8.1 This chapter is framed around the following objective:
Objective 5: To minimise local traffic impacts and improve opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to walk and cycle.
8.2 It presents policies and projects in respect of walking and cycling networks, traffic management, and rail services.
8.3 The Parish benefits from an extensive pattern of footpaths and Public Rights of Way. These connect the three settlements, providing good accessibility for residents and visitors. However, the RBWM Cycling Action Plan 2018–2028 identifies a number of issues in the Neighbourhood Plan area. These include few dedicated cycle routes, cyclists needing to share space with fast-moving motorists, and limited cross-boundary links. These have fed into the RBWM Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan. This identifies a potential future cycle network and priority areas for improvements to the walking network.
8.4 The Government’s Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy points to the importance of and need for investment in new infrastructure to support active travel, particularly for shorter, everyday journeys, where walking and cycling can replace travel by car as the default choice, contributing towards sustainability and climate change measures. This also helps with social inclusivity, providing travel choice for all people of all ages, reducing reliance on the private car.
8.5 The distance that can be covered in five or ten minutes, particularly by bicycle, is extensive, and efforts that make use of the bike as the ‘norm’ for shorter journeys are encouraged.
1. Proposals for major development (see Glossary) and which require active travel access to community facilities, including schools, should demonstrate how they have considered the following active travel criteria:
2. Proposals for residential development should provide secure cycle storage assigned to the home and located within or immediately adjacent to the property, fully enclosed and at ground level.
3. Proposals for commercial, leisure and community uses should support and enable active travel through inclusion of safe, secure, covered and convenient cycle parking and changing facilities.
8.6 The Neighbourhood Plan encourages active travel measures to provide safe alternatives to the car for shorter, day‑to‑day journeys and which may relieve some of the challenges associated with parking. It is though recognised that many people will continue to drive, for short and longer journeys, and that solutions to parking are likely to be required. This is particularly important given the lack of train services to and from the Parish and the need for parking provision to be maximised in new developments. At the same time, where parking is provided, it is important that the visual impact of parked cars does not undermine the quality of the environment. The Cookham Design Guidance and Codes (see Codes DC.02 and CR.04), as well as the VDS (see G6.16 and G6.17), provide guidance on the arrangement of parking in new development and within the public realm.
8.7 The Government has stated that it is committed to the sale of all petrol and diesel vehicles being phased out by 2030, whilst also rolling‑out the necessary infrastructure to support provision of electric vehicles. New Building Regulations have recently been introduced in respect of electric charging points for residential and non‑residential developments.
8.8 The provision of electric charging points, alongside support for walking, cycling and improved public transport services, is supported in the Parish where such technology is designed such that it does not cause obstruction within the public realm (e.g. electric‑vehicle charging points and cables placed on the footway which impede pedestrian movement).
1. The provision of car parking in the Neighbourhood Area should take account of and respond to the parking standards set out in Appendix 7.
2. Residential car parking spaces for individual houses should be provided on‑plot and new garages should respect local character. Car parking spaces and garages should be of a sufficient size to accommodate large modern cars.
3. Rear garage and parking courts shall only be provided where they benefit from natural surveillance, are directly accessed from the front of properties, and are designed as attractive, functional spaces, incorporating tree planting. Narrow vehicular accessways should be avoided.
4. Where new areas of public parking are proposed they shall, as appropriate to the immediate context, make use of porous, natural surfaces and incorporate areas of landscaping. Raised edges should be provided around areas of landscaping to protect from over‑running vehicles.
5. On‑street parking should only be provided where no other practicable solutions exist and should be designed as part of a comprehensive public realm strategy, including tree planting and use of materials to define parking spaces and soften the visual impact of parked cars. Such spaces should ideally be perpendicular to the street. No more than three on‑street car parking spaces should be provided in a row, with trees or other forms of soft landscaping at the end of each row. Raised edges and kerbs should be provided around these to protect them from over‑running vehicles.
6. Electric vehicle charging points and infrastructure should have regard to local character and, where possible, be capable of being upgraded to incorporate faster charging technology.
8.9 A survey in The Cookham Plan – Transport and Traffic 2008 shows that Cookham’s location and transport links are a valued asset amongst residents, with 46.1% of respondents identifying ‘good transport links’, and 72% of respondents identifying ‘convenient geographical location’ as answers to ‘What do you like about living in the Cookhams?’
8.10 However, road safety was raised as a major concern in the aforementioned survey, with 72.8% of residents expressing apprehensions about speeding and accident black spots. Switchback Road (the B4447), which is the main link between Cookham and Maidenhead, is a particular black spot (as recorded on Crashmap – see Glossary), which is perhaps reflective of the volume and speed of traffic making use of this route.
8.11 Cookham Bridge is a local pinch point, with the junction of the B4447 and A4094 (Cookham High Road / Sutton Road) experiencing congestion with queues in either direction. The Pound, between Maidenhead Road and Cookham Moor, has also been identified through consultation events as a pinch point, being a cause of congestion and an area where there are safety concerns. The narrow road and pavement, which is only present on one side, makes this a particularly unfriendly environment for pedestrians. At the same time, The Pound is important to the overall character of Cookham, including several listed buildings.
8.12 Various ideas were put forward through consultation events as to how congestion and safety issues associated with The Pound might be overcome. Any such solution would need to carefully balance the movement function of The Pound with its very important place qualities and constraints imposed by limited space, property boundaries being adjacent to the highway, and the historic fabric of adjacent buildings. Production of a solution that works for all will be subject to ongoing investigation, with the Parish keen to prepare a Traffic Management Study for Cookham that tests the feasibility of options. This does not comprise a ‘land use’ or ‘development’ policy for the purposes of the Neighbourhood Plan, and is instead a project / aspiration to be progressed (see Projects in Appendix 8).
8.13 There are narrow roads in the Parish as well as strategic routes linking to neighbouring parishes, such as Ferry Lane and Switchback Road, and which are likely to experience growth in traffic, and thus a worsening of air quality, associated with future development.
8.14 Policy EP2 of the Local Plan seeks to limit air pollution, requiring impact assessments and mitigation measures to be put in place. There are currently five Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs) across the Borough. These do not include the Neighbourhood Plan area. However, and as expressed through consultation responses and linked to messages about health and well – being, there is a desire for improvements to air quality across the Parish (see Projects in Appendix 8).
8.15 Measures that help lead to improved air quality include those identified in the Neighbourhood Plan, such as street greening and promotion of walking and cycling. The Parish is though keen to see wider measures introduced, including the requirements applicable to AQMAs, modelling of the impacts of development on key pinch points, and support for air positive development schemes extend to Cookham.
8.16 Cookham Railway Station is located in Cookham Rise on Station Hill. An ‘each way’ service between Maidenhead and Marlow is operated on an hourly basis, increasing to half hourly during ‘rush hour’. Onward journeys to London Paddington require either a single change at Maidenhead or a double change at Maidenhead and then Slough.
8.17 Direct train services between Cookham railway station and London Paddington were cut from three per hour to two per hour (during peak travel times) in the late 2000’s, with the direct service being cut completely in 2017. Whilst the direct service from Maidenhead into central London may be of some benefit for residents from Cookham, it does not address the lack of direct through services. With peak time services from Maidenhead to London often already full before passengers from Cookham can change, there is a need to explore whether direct services could be reintroduced.
8.18 The vast majority of bus passenger needs are met by the Arriva Route‑37 (High Wycombe to Maidenhead & Bourne End) which passes through Cookham Village and Cookham Rise. The bus service is hourly.
The Government has published a long term national bus strategy (Bus Back Better, March 2021) which sets out ways in which services, including those in rural areas, might be transformed, including simpler fares, improved routing and frequencies. RBWM is forming an enhanced bus partnership with private operators to investigate and deliver improved services, which might be supported through Government grants. Through this process, the Parish Council is keen to work with RBWM and partners to delivery improved bus services in Cookham (see Projects in Appendix 8).
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