Update on the application to close Brixham Road

We will be issuing a press release shortly to let our residents know that the Section 278 agreement submitted by Persimmon Homes for the highway works to take place for the Inglewood development will be signed by the Council.

This follows detailed meetings, challenges back to the developer and requests to review all of the options available.

This means that Brixham Road from Windy Corner to the junction with Goodrington and Long Road will be fully closed from 3 January 2023 to 30 March 2023. It also means that in May and June works, using traffic management, will start to improve the Windy Corner junction. The work on the Long Road / Goodrington Road junction will start late September until December, again using traffic management.

In the agreement we have specifically asked for the diversion route to be closely monitored and reviewed along with our own Highways engineers.

Legal advice has been that we could be found to be frustrating the implementation of the planning permission granted by the Secretary of State were it not to give agreement. This could risk paying in the region of £2.5 million in damages to the developer.

There have also been independent Highways engineers instructed to look at if there was another way for the work to be carried out without closing the road. They also looked at the diversion route and the modelling data for how long the impact of the diversion would have on those using it.

The independent Highways engineers said the developers had used appropriate tools to asses the delays. They reported back that it is not possible to construct the highway works on Brixham Road safely without a road closure and that Goodrington Road/Dartmouth Road diversion route is the most appropriate available to accept the diverted traffic.

These delays will be dependant upon the route avoiding any further disruptions, and this has been made clear to the developer. Monitoring and management of the diversionary route is key and as mentioned, it will be asked explicitly in the Section 278 that the monitoring is carried out by suitably qualified personnel and that our highways team are able to influence, check and challenge to ensure that delays are minimised.

Key messages

Please find below key messages to help you when talking to your ward residents about this decision.

After detailed conversations, challenges and requests to review all options with Persimmon Homes, we have been working hard to find a way that these road works will have the least amount of disruption possible for residents and businesses.

We have read, taken on board, and fed back to the developers the impact comments we received.

We have brought together organisations including Brixham Town Council and Brixham Chamber of Commerce so that their concerns were also set out.

The developer has given commitments to get the work needed done as quickly as possible and reduce the length of time for the road closure.

One option closely looked at was to have one lane open on Brixham Road while the work was ongoing. The carriageway at the moment is 6.2 meters wide and where it will be raised and widened it will be 7.3 meters wide, which is the same width of Goodrington Road. For this work to happen, a legal safe zone to protect those working on the road would need to be in place. This would mean one lane, with an approx. safe working zone would only leave 1.5m for other road traffic, which isn’t wide enough for vehicles to use to safely to pass the roadworks. This means that this is not a condition that we can reasonably require.

We have sought a second opinion, legally and from independent Highway engineers, to see what other options there could be. Unfortunately, there isn’t one.

Brixham Road from Windy Corner to the junction with Goodrington and Long Road will be fully closed from 3 January 2023 to 30 March 2023.

In May and June works using traffic management will start to improve the Windy Corner junction. The work on the Long Road / Goodrington Road junction will start late September until December, again using traffic management.

Diversion

The agreed diversion from Windy Corner to Long Road will take you along Dartmouth Road and then up Goodrington Road, and vice versa from Long Road to Windy Corner.

To help with this diversion, the lights at Windy Corner will be replaced with temporary traffic lights and a pedestrian crossing. These lights will be permanently on green and will only turn red when a pedestrian wishes to cross the road.

Temporary lights will also be placed at the Goodrington Road / Dartmouth Road junction. This is to help those turning right into Goodrington Road coming from Paignton and those who need to turn right out of Goodrington Road onto Dartmouth Road. The lights will be set back to give large vehicles the space to turn into the road. An alternative diversion for large vehicles has also been given if they would like to use this. This will take them into Paignton and then out along Totnes Road to Tweenaway.

Temporary double yellow lines will be put in on Goodrington Road as you drive up to the junction with Dartmouth Road.

The diversion route will be monitored and any issues with timings of lights etc. will be altered and adjusted as quickly as possible.

Modelling of traffic times has been done by the developer and have been considered by the independent highway engineers. This shows that the impact of the diversion when travelling from Windy Corner to Long Road along Goodrington Road will be between eight and 13 minutes, depending on the time of day.

Roadworks, Brixham Road residents and Emergency Services

To help these works take place quicker and to reduce disruption as much as possible we have agreed to the developers working longer hours on site – evenings and weekends.

Residents who live on this stretch of Brixham Road will be contacted by the developer and their contractor and will be informed about how they can access their property while the works are taking place. They will also be told how their waste and recycling will be collected and deliveries can be made.

The developer has assured us that they will be providing extra people on site to make the most of the longer working hours. They have also leased land from the Farmer whose land is next to the site so the verge can be used for drainage. This means the drainage doesn’t need to go down the middle of the road around the Hunters Tor Drive area as first thought and has helped reduce the time the road will be closed.

This means this part of the road, from Hunters Tor Drive to Windy Corner, can be kept open for the Emergency Services when needed. The Emergency Services are also being kept informed and have the contact details for the Site Manager for emergencies. An emergency route through Hookhills has been agreed if Dartmouth Road needs to close. This can’t be used all the time though due to safety reasons.