12–14 High Street, Southampton

Apex provided transport planning and highways advice to support a full planning application for a purpose built student accommodation scheme at 12–14 High Street, Southampton.

The proposals comprised the redevelopment and extension of an existing student accommodation site within Southampton city centre to deliver a high quality modular student accommodation scheme, with active ground floor uses and no on site car parking provision. The development provides a total of 100 student studios in a highly sustainable and accessible location.

The site is located within Southampton city centre on High Street, close to East Street, within an area of high pedestrian activity. The key transport challenges related to delivering a car free development while demonstrating that servicing, refuse collection and student arrivals and departures could be managed safely and effectively.

We prepared a Transport Statement to support the planning application, alongside a comprehensive Student Travel Plan. The assessment focused on the servicing strategy, trip generation and demonstrating the highly sustainable location of the site.

The servicing strategy was developed to utilise a rear service yard accessed from East Street, with swept path analysis undertaken to demonstrate that refuse and service vehicles could enter, manoeuvre and exit safely. These arrangements built upon servicing principles that had already been accepted through a previously approved consent on the site.

Given the car free nature of the development, a detailed moving in and out strategy was prepared in collaboration with the operator. This set out how student arrivals would be managed over a defined period at the start of term, making use of nearby public car parks rather than stopping on street, supported by staff presence and clear communication with residents. Measures were also included to manage end of term departures, which typically occur over a more dispersed timeframe.

The Student Travel Plan promoted sustainable travel choices and set out measures to encourage walking, cycling and public transport use, reflecting the fact that the development is car free and located within a highly sustainable city centre location.

The city centre location, proximity to university campuses, and strong bus and rail connections were central to demonstrating that the absence of on site car parking was appropriate.

The supporting transport work assisted the site to successfully achieve planning permission in 2021.

The approved scheme delivers a well located student accommodation development in the heart of Southampton city centre, supported by a robust servicing strategy, a carefully managed approach to student arrivals and departures, and a strong emphasis on sustainable travel.