Representation by Rokeby, Brignall and Egglestone Abbey Parish Council (Rokeby, Brignall and Egglestone Abbey Parish Council)
- Date submitted
- 4 September 2022
- Submitted by
- Parish councils
The exposed and imposing Rokeby junction on the Black route, although avoiding the listed Rokeby Park, places the underpass and associated junction at 190m above sea level and will break the current road ‘corridor’ along the line of the A66 West of St Mary’s Church. The junction will change permanently the views of St Mary’s to and from the West and South. The Blue route junction although only 500m to the East of the Black is 30m lower and Its junction appears to require less land for the junction. We would contend that any harms to the broad visual character around St Mary’s Church would more significantly harmed by the Black route junction as this at a higher elevation would permanently impact on the views to and from the Church and its borrowed landscape. The Black route junction at Rokeby requires the loss of more productive farmland and a more complex junction than the Blue alternate. The Black route junction design simply imposes itself on the landscape and ignores topography and historic considerations. The Black route traffic projections show an increase in traffic in Startforth and the lower areas of Barnard Castle which will have economic and environmental impacts. Increased traffic on that route along the Sills, the County Bridge, Bridgegate and The Bank will result in traffic congestion at the County Bridge lights, and consequentially through the rest of Barnard Castle. This will adversely affect the economy of Barnard Castle directly and indirectly through disruption for people living in and travelling through Teesdale to and from Bowes and the villages higher up the Dale. Highways England’s own modelling shows a marked change in traffic flow into Barnard Castle from the Black route. In particular a large increase in traffic from the A66 into Barnard Castle using the B6277 into Startforth, along the Sills, over the County Bridge, Bridgegate and The Bank to the Butter Market. This will have negative economic and environmental air quality harms on Startforth and lower Barnard Castle. This route and therefore each vehicle journey will be 1.5miles longer than the current route into Barnard Castle via the C165 from Rokeby. The route for traffic continuing to use the Black route via the C165 to access Barnard Castle will be increased by 1.1 miles for each vehicle journey compared to the Blue route Walking, cycling and horse-riding The Black route will impose for NMUs an extra 1.1 miles to all journeys compared to the Blue route. The main harms from the proposed Black route will be negative physical and mental health effects, acute ones from the increased risk of accidents between vehicles and pedestrians in Startforth and lower Barnard Castle and more chronic health effects from reductions in air quality, noise and disturbance. We would also like to challenge the harm that the Blue route would pose to Rokeby Park. The proposed loss from the Blue route junction would be a block 30-50m (East/West) by 15m (North/South) of the Church Plantation 150m West of the current C165 junction. • None of the 35 listed structures within the listed extent of Rokeby Park or its environs would be directly affected by the Blue route proposal. • The Blue route junction will minimally impact the broader visual landscape in particular the tree line and tree canopy. The existing C165 doesn’t break the visual connection and tree canopy between the walled Park and Church plantation and the Blue Route junction is similarly unlikely to break this connection. • There is no public path between Rokeby Park and St Marys through the Church Plantation, access to St Marys and its environs is only from the current A66. We would contend that any harms to the broad visual character around St Mary’s Church would more significantly harmed by the Black route junction as this at a higher elevation would permanently impact on the views to and from the Church and its borrowed landscape. Both options present the same junction at Cross Lanes. We are in favour of the amended positioning of the link road between Moorhouse and Rutherford Lanes to the North of Cross Lanes Organics parallel to the existing A66 as it reduces the visual impact on Cross Lanes Organics and reduces the the loss of farmland, increases the preservation of the wildlife habitat along Tutta Beck and is a simpler and cheaper construction.