Campaigners fear Derbyshire water park scheme poses traffic congestion problems

Bolsover District Council is due to approve or refuse Great Lakes UK Ltd and Waystone Ltd’s planning application for a Great Wolf Resorts’ indoor water park and resort on land near Worksop Road, at Whitwell Common, near Clowne, Barlborough and Whitwell.

But after Derbyshire County Council’s highways authority requested more information in relation to the potential impact of the scheme on the A616/A619 Treble Bob roundabout, campaigners are not convinced by the applicant’s latest ‘Technical Note 12’ report to address traffic congestion.

Campaigner Dom Webb said: “TN12 is likely to be presented as answering the highway authority’s outstanding concerns. It does not, for five reasons.”

Mr Webb says Derbyshire County Council’s highways authority has yet to announce its updated position and he argued the applicant’s TN12 has failed to achieve modelled queues that reflect surveyed queues in four out of five areas off the roundabout.

He also questioned the applicant’s claims that a key junction is expected to fail anyway regarding spare capacity and that the development will not be not the cause.

Mr Webb argued it is also not known whether a traffic scheme designed for the approved Clowne Garden Village for 1,800 homes will be able to accommodate the proposed water park, and that model assessments at Chesterfield Road and Clowne Road junction have not been corrected in updates.

The proposed site for the Great Wolf Lodge resort is on 19.3 hectares of agricultural land and could feature a seven-storey, 512-room hotel, a water park, an adventure park, conference facilities, restaurants and staff accommodation with associated access, parking and landscaping.

Following the county council’s concerns, the applicants agreed to provide revised modelling for the Treble Bob junction with measures to reduce travel demand associated with cars alongside growth assumptions.

The modelling indicates Oxcroft Way would experience capacity problems in afternoon assessment periods even without the proposed resort and the scheme would increase pressure but the applicant’s report also claims the water park would not be the cause of vehicle limits being reached.

Additional effects from the scheme would be concentrated on Oxcroft Way, according to the report, with much smaller queue increases on the A616 approach from Junction 30, of the M1 motorway.

The report concludes the underlying cause of Oxcroft Way exceeding capacity will be the additional background growth and Clowne Garden Village traffic and, comparatively, the impact of the proposed water park is much smaller.

It states this scenario would only happen if the planned Clowne Garden Village is delivered without expected highways mitigation to deal with traffic.

The report stated the modelling results are not considered to represent a severe enough impact to justify refusing the scheme on highway grounds and there will be measures to reduce car reliance.

These feature extended and improved footways on the A619 and connections to Clowne Garden Village allowing pedestrian and cycle access, a staff accommodation block, a Travel Plan and shuttlebus, sustainable transport plans, a parking strategy, a cycle to work scheme and a car sharing scheme.

Campaigner Roger Dell dismissed the applicant’s claim that the scheme cannot be refused on highways grounds as ‘completely worthless’ and he urged the council to consider ‘congestion displacement’ and the knock-on effect of rat-runs.

He said the report fails to acknowledge that when queues on Oxcroft Way cause congestion on the Barlborough Links roundabout drivers take a rat-run through Slayley View estate emerging onto the Treble Bob roundabout.

Mr Dell added when queues on Oxcroft Way back up to the Clowne Road junction drivers travel to the De Rodes roundabout and turn down Chesterfield Road North adding to queueing to join the Treble Bob where there are already substantial queues.

He said: “The rat-running through the residential estate presents additional road safety danger coinciding with the times when primary school children are going to school.”

Mr Dell also raised concerns that congestion already threatens air quality and increased queuing traffic will worsen the situation.

Hundreds of people have submitted comments during a public consultation to be considered with statements from statutory consultees, concerned parties and experts including Derbyshire County Council’s highways authority ahead of any decision.

Say No to the Wolf campaign group raised concerns the scheme will pose increased traffic and environmental harm combined with the separate Clowne Garden Village housing development.

Clowne Garden Village Action Group campaigners, opposed to Waystone Ltd’s approved housing scheme, also claim any additional developments such as the water park could have a combined detrimental effect on highways and the environment.

Clowne Parish Council and Whitwell Parish Council raised objections due to the scale of the scheme, and Derbyshire County Council and Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust have raised concerns about potential flooding.

Great Wolf Resorts hopes its scheme will create about 600 jobs, deliver significant economic, social and environmental benefits, and direct investment into the area.

It also stated guests tend to arrive gradually at different times rather than all together.

The American-based Great Wolf company aims to re-wild 5.7 hectares to the west of the site and there are plans to plant thousands of trees with improvements to hedgerows.

East Midlands Combined County Authority Mayor Claire Ward has expressed support for the scheme to boost tourism and economic growth.

The Friends of Great Wolf Lodge Derbyshire’s Facebook group has also argued the scheme will be a ‘fantastic investment’ creating jobs and providing a much-needed leisure venue.

Despite Bassetlaw MP Jo White suggesting the district council’s planning committee may make a decision on the scheme later this month, the council stated it is unable to confirm a hearing date and the agenda would be published on its website in due course.

Ms White stated on Facebook: “Growing the local economy, creating good jobs and helping businesses succeed are key priorities, and I look forward to seeing this exciting project progress should the planning application be agreed by Bolsover District Council later in November.”