iTransport supported the promotion of a 70-bed care home at Cove Road, Fleet, helping secure outline planning permission at appeal for a high-quality later living development.
The site’s principal constraint was a heavily tree-lined frontage, which created a sensitive balance between highway requirements and landscape impact. In access terms, the challenge was significant: Hampshire County Council required robust visibility standards to be met, while the scheme also needed to minimise the loss or harm to established and healthy trees along the site boundary.
The client’s objective was to demonstrate that a safe and practical access could be achieved without undermining the quality of the site or the wider development vision. Because the application ultimately progressed to appeal, the transport case also needed to be clear, defensible and capable of standing up to detailed scrutiny.
iTransport developed the transport and access strategy with a strong focus on resolving the tension between visibility requirements and the retention of important landscape features.
Through detailed design development, we tested how the site access could be arranged to meet Hampshire County Council’s standards while limiting the impact on the tree-lined frontage. This work was supported by close engagement with stakeholders to understand where flexibility might exist and what evidence would be needed to support the proposed approach.
A key part of the solution was the development of a package of off-site improvement works. These were designed to alter the positioning of vehicles as they entered the carriageway, improving visibility and safety without requiring a more harmful intervention at the site frontage itself. This approach allowed the access strategy to respond to both technical highway requirements and the physical constraints of the site.
We also prepared robust technical evidence and presented it at appeal, demonstrating that the proposed access arrangement would operate safely and efficiently in practice. The aim throughout was to show that highway safety and site quality did not need to be in conflict, provided the design response was carefully developed and clearly evidenced.
The Inspector accepted that the proposed access arrangement met the necessary safety standards, and outline planning permission was granted at appeal.
The agreed solution successfully balanced highway requirements with the need to retain important trees and maintain the character of the site frontage. By combining detailed design work with clear technical evidence, iTransport helped unlock a development that may otherwise have stalled on access grounds.
Overall, the project demonstrated how a carefully considered transport strategy can help resolve sensitive site constraints and support the delivery of specialist care accommodation in a sustainable location.
We provide the full range of specialist transport planning services needed to take schemes from early concept through to consent and delivery
Talk to us about your project
