Current Issues

Student Accommodation

Anaash Holdings are proposing to build residential accommodation for 89 students, at the site of the redundant Temple Filling Station on Ashby Road. The site does not allow for car parking and had no bus stops in the close vicinity. Local people are concerned that the future tenants would park on nearby residential roads despite a “no car” agreement.

The developers, have now produced an “innovative solution” involving the provision of nearby bus stops and 45 bicycles (together with parking) for the use of the residents. The type of bicycle has not been specified.

Local Councillor (and campaign member) Max Hunt has commented that "Most 'no car agreements' made with developers or the university offer little in exchange to students. This proposal is innovative and possibly the first in any British university town. The S106 planning agreement has to be concluded by mid September and I will be pushing for a robust specification which the Borough Council can hold up as an exemplar to other developers and other planning authorities."

There are now five University Halls together with the student accommodation at the Wharf, Woodgate and Greenclose Lane with 'no-car' agreements. No precise figures have been issued but it would seem a reasonable estimate that about 30% of managed student flats/halls have such agreements. Most of them have bike racks for fewer that 50% of their occupants. Greenclose lane in particular seems very poor, being an indoor room for about 20 bicycles and no provision for visitors.

We need to press the planning authorities to introduce adequate standards for cycle parking for “car free” developments. A provision of one cycle space for every resident should be the minimum standard.

Student parking

A group of residents on roads close to the university have formed themselves into an alliance called "Swampedbycars" and have set up a web presence at www.swampedbycars.blogspot.com. They have submitted a document setting out their demands to Charnwood Borough Council that can be read at http://tiny.cc/bxgEB. A letter has also been published by the Loughborough Echo under the signature " Swampedbycars" which can be read here.

At present students living in the area marked in the map below are not allowed to park on campus without special permission. Consequently they tend to park in roads neighbouring the university, even though this is against university rules. Swampedbycars is calling for students to be banned from bringing cars into Loughborough, preferably with a 6 mile + exclusion zone.

Draft plans for Loughborough Town Centre following the building of the ring road have now been published on the Leicestershire Website as the first part of the public consultation exercise. The plans themselves can be downloaded by clicking here (pdf).

A Station Travel Plan for Loughborough Railway Station is currently being drawn up. We are represented on a committee trying to finalise a list of actions, both short and medium term, aimed at increasing the proportion of people travelling to and from the station by sustainable modes. If you have any ideas for increasing the use of cycles (currently a 3% share) for travel to/from the station please join the discussion forum and contribute them. There is scope for a big increase, given that the size of Loughborough is ideal for cycle journeys.

In particular ideas for promoting cycling as a means of travel to the station would be welcome.

The formal planning application for the Eastern Gateway (housing and link road, not the area between the station and the link road) is now out and can be viewed here. . Of the vast array of documents, the most significant are "Masterplan", "Design & Access Statement", "Transport Assessment" and "Travel Plan". The latter two contain some informationabout bus services and various other things.

There appear to be only minor changes since the consultation at the end of last year. In particular, the shared-use cycle/pedestrian paths on both sides of the link road are still there, despite our objections. We would prefer cycle lanes with advanced stop lines at the junctions (as already installed on Nottingham Road - but with at least 1.5 metres width for the cycle lanes, unlike on Nottingham Road!).

Another issue is the extension of the pedestrian area in Loughborough and the restriction/exclusion of buses. Current proposals are, following completion of the ring road, to allowing buses to pass along the old A6 to the south only, with a view to removing them all together if the majority of councillors have their way. This will make life difficult for bus users and in particular the elderly who may no longer be able to drive and find walking any distance difficult. Action for a Better Charnwood is campaigning to keep the buses in the town centre and you can find more details on this issue here.

New regulations are to be introduced for cyclists, so we will have to be watchful to ensure that the the situation is improved with regard to the permeability of the town centre to cyclists.

Loughborough & District
Cycle Users' Campaign