Eco Park, Land at M5 Junction 13, West of Stonehouse
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Ecotricity Eco Park, Land at M5 Junction 13, West of Stonehouse Desk Based Utility Report Project no. 191199 OCTOBER 2015 RSK GENERAL NOTES Project No.: 191199-R01 (00) Title: Desk Based Utility Report, Land at M5 Junction 13, West of Stonehouse Client: RSK Environment Ltd Date: 20th October 2015 Office: RSK, 18 Frogmore Road, Hemel Hempstead, Herts, HP3 9RT Tel: +44 (0)1442 416652 Fax: +44 (0)1442 437550 www.rsk.co.uk Status: Final Project manager Stephen Owen Jessica Western Signature Date: 20/10/2015 RSK Environment (RSK) has prepared this report for the sole use of the client, showing reasonable skill and care, for the intended purposes as stated in the agreement under which this work was completed. The report may not be relied upon by any other party without the express agreement of the client and RSK. No other warranty, expressed or implied, is made as to the professional advice included in this report. Where any data supplied by the client or from other sources have been used, it has been assumed that the information is correct. No responsibility can be accepted by RSK for inaccuracies in the data supplied by any other party. The conclusions and recommendations in this report are based on the assumption that all relevant information has been supplied by those bodies from whom it was requested. No part of this report may be copied or duplicated without the express permission of RSK and the party for whom it was prepared. Where field investigations have been carried out, these have been restricted to a level of detail required to achieve the stated objectives of the work. This work has been undertaken in accordance with the quality management system of RSK Environment. Ecotricity Desk Based Utility Report – Land at M5 Junction 13, West of Stonehouse 191199 R02 (00) i Reproduced from Google Maps OSGR – 377947, 206658 with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, Crown Copyright. Licence No. 100014807 RSK Group Limited, 18 Frogmore Road, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, HP3 9RT. Client: Ecotricity Figure No: 1 1.1 SITE Site: Land at M5 Junction 13, Job No:191199 LOCATION West of Stonhouse PLAN Scale: Source: OS Ecotricity Desk Based Utility Report – Land at M5 Junction 13, West of Stonehouse 191199 R02 (00) i Preliminary Utilities Statement Background The site in question is being considered for development as an Eco Park, comprising of: The Green Technology Hub (the northern area north of A419 and east of the M5); The Sports Complex (the southern area south of the A419 and east of the M5); The Nature Conservation Area (the western area west of the M5). This preliminary utilities statement contains details of existing services and a high level overview of potential constraints associated with providing utilities to the proposed development. A full feasibility study is beyond the scope of this document. Where relevant, information has been sourced from a Preliminary Risk Assessment (PRA) undertaken by RSK in October 2015. Site Location and description The site comprises three parcels of agricultural land and is approximately 39.5 ha in total, with two parcels of land located to the east of the M5 north and south of the A419, having areas of 18.9 and 13.5 ha respectively. The third parcel is 4.6 ha in area and is located to the west of the M5, south of the A419 and linked to the most southerly land parcel via an underpass. The site is generally flat with a slight fall from 20m AOD (above ordinance datum) in the north to 15m AOD in the south. The Sports Complex is bordered by the M5 motorway to the northwest, with the Nature Conservation Area land parcel, the Highways England Depot and agricultural land beyond. The A419 and The Green Technology Hub are located to the northeast and residential properties and the villages of Churchend and Chipmans Platt are located to the southeast. To the south is the in filled former Stroud Canal and the Easington Trading Estate and to the southwest is further agricultural land and the River Frome. The Green Technology hub is bordered by a road and the village of Westend to the east and northeast. The M5 motorway borders the site to the northwest with agricultural land beyond and the other two areas of site are located to the south-west and south, beyond the A419 and the M5 respectively. Grove Lane forms part of the northern boundary of the eastern parcel of land. The Nature Conservation Area is generally surrounded by agricultural land to the north and west, with the River Frome along its south-western boundary. A Highways England Depot is located to the east and the M5 motorway is adjacent to the southeast with the southerly land parcel beyond. Environmental Setting and Sensitive Land Uses The site is in a generally low environmental setting with respect groundwater, being situated above a mixture of Secondary A and Secondary B aquifers, the site does not lie within a currently designated groundwater Source Protection Zone. No national or internationally designated sensitive land uses such as sites of special scientific interest (SSSI) were identified within a 1.5km radius of the site. Contamination The site has remained agricultural land with no history of development; hence the likelihood of there being contamination issues that could affect buried services is low. Desk Based Utilities Search A desk based utility survey was completed for the site and this is included at Appendix A All known service providers were contacted to ascertain whether they have any plant situated within the confines of the site. Utility companies that provided positive responses have supplied scale drawings of the plant they own. For the avoidance of doubt, negative responses are also included within the utilities report. The utilities companies that have plant in the area are summarised in Table 1, below. Ecotricity Desk Based Utility Report – Land at M5 Junction 13, West of Stonehouse 191199 R02 (00) ii Table 1: Utilities present within search area Provider Utility Type Comment A 500mm main is present in the Nature Conservation Area (western part of the site), running in a roughly south west to north east orientation. Potable water Eastington Maintenance Compound is served by a 3 inch diameter PVC supply. Severn Trent None identified. Anecdotal reports that residential properties to the east Foul Water of the site discharge foul water on to fields within the site boundary. It is presumed that neighbouring properties discharge via soakaway. Surface water None identified. 11kV overhead present within the western land parcel, running SE-NE providing supply to the depot located to the north of the site. Western power Electricity distribution 11kV overhead runs through both eastern land parcels (crossing the A419) serving off site residential properties and the Oldbury service area to the east of the site High Pressure Main runs roughly N-S close to the western border of the western land parcel. Wales and the Gas West Low pressure main runs roughly S-N through both eastern land parcels with feeds off serving residential properties to the east of the site. Tele- BT Present along A419 and adjacent properties. communications Note: The desk based utilities search does not include details of private supplies to neighbouring properties Future Connections The proposed development will require connection to existing utilities infrastructure in the area. The demands imposed by the development will need to be determined and relevant utilities providers will need to be consulted to determine capability of the existing utilities networks to cope with the increased demand. Eco Park aspires to be a green low carbon development, employing the very best, innovative and most recent practices in :- Sustainable construction; Exemplar innovative sustainable building design, orientation and landscape works, including an aim for buildings to meet Passivhaus standards; Sustainable operation and green practices to reduce carbon footprints; For the Green Technology Hub, incentives for building occupancy by companies from the “green economy”, either directly involved with manufacture and supply of, or developing sustainable products and services; Use of “green” infrastructure and retention and enhancement of woodlands and hedgerows; Ecotricity Desk Based Utility Report – Land at M5 Junction 13, West of Stonehouse 191199 R02 (00) iii Integration species rich grassland into no sporting areas throughout the site; Use of SuDs where practicable throughout the development; and For the Nature Conservation Area and green corridors, adoption of best practice ecological management and enhancement, and reinstatement of former habitat types. The principal benchmark for the Eco Park is to set the standard for best practice in sustainable building design, construction and operation. It will encourage designers, clients and others to think about low carbon and low impact design, minimising the energy demands created by a building before considering energy efficiency and low carbon technologies. Potable Water There are existing mains within the site area and there are no perceived issues that would prevent connection to the existing network, subject to consultation. Foul Drainage The desk based utilities report indicates that there is no existing foul drainage network within or close to the site. Appropriate ground investigations and infiltration would be required to establish whether a soak away drainage solution could be adopted for the proposed site. Surface Water It is understood that surface water from the proposed development will be managed via SuDS. As with the foul drainage, a programme of ground investigation/ infiltration testing will be required to determine whether it will be possible to discharge surface water to ground. It is also understood that surface water currently drains via a network of ditches that lead to the River Frome.