Local Development Framework Consultation

Land development R121M-mod (Kendal)
We would like to express our concerns regarding the possible use of Oak tree Road & Rowan Tree Crescent as road access points, should Area R121M be developed for new housing.
Our concerns are as follows;-
Use of Oak tree road as access to Area R121M would put a great strain upon the existing road system in Oak Tree Road & Rowan Tree Crescent.
As any thorough and detailed site inspection and any consultation with existing residents would confirm, the road is already too narrow and congested for its current us. Increasing the volume of traffic would make matters much worse.
The problem is partly due to the original driveways being too narrow for modern day vehicles which means that many residents find it necessary to park exclusively upon the road side.
This is made worse because many residents have more than one car per household.
Consequently, delivery and waste collection vehicles have great difficulty negotiating the route around the existing estate.
It is particularly difficult to safely pass other vehicles on the road. This is almost impossible at the corners of the estate.
If access to the proposed new estate was through these roads, the current roads could not cope with extra traffic and there would be significant problems of congestion and road safety.
The increased number of cars could be in the order of 120, in order to serve 60 modern households. This extra volume of traffic would have a very detrimental effect upon the resident’s quality of life, with lots of extra noise and concerns for safety. This would more than double the existing volume of traffic.
The entrance to Oak Tree Road, which is directly on to Castle Green Road, is a very dangerous junction close to a bend on to a busy road. Castle Green Road is frequently used as a means of avoiding Kendal’s one-way system and consequently the majority of road users disregard the existing 30 mph speed limit.
Some reasons for this are that the junction is situated too near to the change in speed limit from 30 to 40 mph for vehicles leaving Kendal. Consequently they speed up to climb the hill at the higher limit. Traffic entering Kendal is descending a hill, so it requires a greater effort to slow down to comply with the reduced speed limit.
Clearly, it must be a number of years since traffic surveys have been taken on Castle Green Road, or else the position of the change in speed limit would have been re-located.
Consequently, entering and leaving Oak Tree Road can be dangerous as there is also a difficult hill with a bend directly upon entering Oak Tree Road.
Increasing the volume of traffic using this already unsatisfactory & dangerous junction can only increase the risks to traffic & pedestrians, considerably. As any recent traffic survey would confirm, at certain parts of the day crossing Castle Green road to Oak Tree Road, either in a vehicle or on foot, can be extremely difficult, time consuming and potentially hazardous.
It is surprising that the exit from existing estate to new estate, utilising the existing cul-de-sac stub, is considered to be viable when this will require a 180 degree turn up what is likely to be a very steep hill. Clearly the difficulty of the topography in this area for location of an access road has not been adequately taken into account.
With known risk of flooding in this area, winter conditions are likely to be treacherous. The existing road is too narrow to be adequately and regularly gritted in winter, and residents have to make their own arrangements to remove snow and ice for safe access to their homes. Again, it is clear that the local residents have not been adequately consulted regarding their knowledge on this issue.
In fact it is clear that there is no evidence that the views and current background knowledge of the local community being taken into account for any aspect of this proposal.
John & Jane Corbett