Walking route needed for drive-thru plans

Developers planning a 24-hour drive-through restaurant on a major junction near the Severn Bridge have been told to improve pedestrian access. 

A fast food restaurant and coffee shop are planned for the site opposite the Thornwell housing estate in Chepstow, but the only proposed route for those on foot is through an underpass. 

Plans were submitted in the autumn for the site on fields next to the Newhouse Farm Industrial Estate, at junction two of the M48 by retail firm EG Group, or Euro Garages, which works with brands including KFC and Subway on roadside operations throughout the UK. 

Monmouthshire council’s active travel officer has said the plans should be changed so that a pedestrian access closer to the restaurant and a pedestrian crossing, with traffic lights across the road that leads to the industrial estate are included. 

Designs submitted by the applicant should also be amended so the proposed pedestrian access links to the footpath running through the site, says the officer. 

The council’s rights of way officer had already raised concerns that the only access was through the existing tunnel underneath the road, and said it’s feared that rather than follow the route people would simply try and cross the busy road network. 

Active travel officer Nick Tulp, in his qualified objection, stated: “Human nature will follow the shortest route and evidence of access to the industrial estate is made from Chepstow by the current M48 roundabout, using grass verges and access over barriers.” He said his proposal would “significantly improve” pedestrian access. 

Concerns over the route through the tunnel, and of people attempting to cross the road, are also shared by the Welsh Government’s transport department which is responsible for trunk roads. 

It said as well as concerns the tunnel may not connect direct to a footpath to the site those walking there would be unlikely to use it. 

Government officer Richard Jones wrote: “The underpass and connecting paths have limited natural surveillance, particularly at times that employees may be travelling back and forth, as well as being potentially indirect.” 

He said the council should seek further information on the route and how it would be signposted so that “unsuitable alternatives do not form”. 

The government has also said the council must seek information on works proposed next to the main M48 to ensure they do not disrupt its supporting structures.