Cookham homes turned down over fear of car-train crashes

A plan for new homes near the level crossing in Cookham has been turned down by the council over fears of increased risk of collision between cars and trains.

Palatine Homes wanted to put in four detached houses with parking on land adjacent to the Hedsordene housing development in Lower Road – currently garden land.

This was not the first proposal for the site. There was a rejected one in 2008 (ref 08/00746) for eight four-bed town houses and a single four-bed detached house.

Though this newer proposal is less dense, it was not without controversy.

For a relatively small application there was a raft of objections – a total of 52 were logged in the Windsor and Maidenhead council planning portal.

One of these was from Network Rail, who said 'the likelihood of cars stopping on the crossing' would be increased 'by an unacceptable level'.

"This materially increases the risk of a collision between a train and a vehicle at the crossing," wrote a Network Rail town planning technician, Grace Lewis.

Traffic over the crossing at peak times is ‘already extreme’, she added.

Station staff 'regularly get calls to help move traffic off the crossing' that has ended up parked across it.

Though Palatine Homes proposed improvements to access in and out of the road, Ms Lewis said these 'will not do anything to stem the fact that it is so close to the crossing.'

"This risk exists today as there are already houses down the lane, and we cannot have it made worse by increasing the number of vehicles that need to get into the lane," Ms Lewis wrote.

As it is, Cookham crossing currently sits sixth on the route for the most reported incidents in the last 13 periods, she said.

The applicant's highways consultant, Highway Planning Ltd, countered that 'there have been no injury accidents at the level crossing in the past 10 years.’

But Network Rail wouldn't budge, with Ms Lewis saying: "We do not manage safety by pushing things further ‘because nothing has ever happened’, until something goes terribly wrong.

“Our job is to manage and minimise risk at all opportunities and this development would do the precise opposite of that."

As such, Network Rail insisted it 'cannot consider' withdrawing the objection, on safety grounds.

Ultimately, the council took heed of these concerns voiced by Network Rail, rejecting the application.

Officers also rejected it on the grounds of a lack of additional facilities, which they felt would put pressure on existing services - among other concerns.

See all plans with reference 23/01539/FULL.