Defence Estates Consortium and the Bypass

If you read the Wokingham Times you will see that on page three of the 18th January issue they have picked up on the comment that the MoD backed Defence Estates Consortium are unwilling to fund a bypass for Arborfield, instead suggesting that modifications to the existing roundabout would be adequate to mitigate the traffic effects. Of course this is contrary to the published traffic modelling which can be found on the Wokingham Borough Council site. The Forecast Year Results report  contains three scenarios, the first being to build no houses, the second to build houses with no mitigating work, and the third to build everything proposed in the planning documents including a bypass for Arborfield. The report makes the following conclusion in paragraph 4.4.2:

It has not been possible to demonstrate that an absolute nil detriment position has been reached through a comparison of Scenarios C and A. However,the introduction of off-site infrastructure reduces the impact of SDL development proposals on travel through Wokingham demonstrated through the assessment of ten travel time routes across the Borough. This results in a 9% increase in travel time on these routes in the AM peak period and a 5% increase in the PM peak period. Furthermore there is a clear benefit through adoption of the infrastructure associated with Scenario C demonstrated through the comparison between Scenarios C and B.

Essentially we’re told that unpublished MoD modelling indicates that a new road in unnecessary, but the published report concludes that even if every road scheme is built the required nil detriment position will not be achieved. So who do you think is right, the published report, or the secret MoD modelling that nobody has seen?

As our contribution to the article we issued the following statement to the press:

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