The Planning Act 2008 The Willington C Gas Pipeline Examining Authority’s Report of Findings and Conclusions and Recommendation to the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change _______________________________________ Stephen Roscoe BEng MSc CEng MICE Examining Authority 2 October 2014 The Examining Authority’s findings, conclusions and recommendation in respect of an application for a Development Consent Order for a buried gas pipeline from a connection into the national gas transmission system near Yoxall in Staffordshire to the site of the proposed Willington C Power Station in Derbyshire. Report to the Secretary of State 1 Template version 0.96 This page intentionally left blank Report to the Secretary of State 1 Template version 0.96 File Ref EN060001 The application, dated 25 July 2013, was made under section 37 of the Planning Act 2008 and was received in full by The Planning Inspectorate on 30 July 2013. The applicant is RWE Npower plc. The application was accepted for examination on 22 August 2013. The examination of the application began on 11 January 2014 and was completed on 2 July 2014. The development proposed comprises a buried gas pipeline, approximately 27km in length, from a connection into the national gas transmission system near Yoxall in Staffordshire, where the development would include an above ground installation, to its termination at a block valve within the site of the proposed Willington C Power Station in Derbyshire. Summary of Recommendation: The Examining Authority recommends that the Secretary of State should make the Order in the form attached. Report to the Secretary of State 1 Template version 0.96 Section Contents 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................... 4 2 MAIN FEATURES OF THE PROPOSAL AND SITE ................................. 9 THE PRESENT APPLICATION ........................................................... 9 PLANNING HISTORY .................................................................. 11 3 LEGAL AND POLICY CONTEXT ...................................................... 12 PLANNING ACT 2008, AS AMENDED BY THE LOCALISM ACT 2011 AND THE GROWTH AND INFRASTRUCTURE ACT 2013 ...................................... 12 NATIONAL POLICY STATEMENTS ................................................... 12 EUROPEAN REQUIREMENTS AND RELATED UK REGULATIONS ................. 23 OTHER LEGAL AND POLICY PROVISIONS ......................................... 24 LOCAL IMPACT REPORTS ............................................................ 26 THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN ........................................................... 27 NATIONAL PLANNING POLICY FRAMEWORK (MARCH 2012) .................. 28 4 FINDINGS IN RELATION TO POLICY AND FACTUAL ISSUES ............. 29 PRINCIPAL ISSUES ................................................................... 29 BIODIVERSITY, BIOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY ................... 30 FLOOD RISK AND CLIMATE CHANGE .............................................. 35 NOISE AND VIBRATION DISTURBANCE ........................................... 39 LAND USE AND SAFETY ............................................................. 41 TRAFFIC, TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION ........................................ 43 DESIGN, LANDSCAPE AND VISUAL IMPACT ...................................... 44 SOCIO-ECONOMIC EFFECTS ........................................................ 46 HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT ........................................................... 47 RATIONALE FOR THE SELECTION OF THE ROUTE, WORKSITES AND PIPELAYING STRATEGIES .......................................................................... 48 AIR QUALITY AND EMISSIONS ..................................................... 49 RIVER CHANGE ....................................................................... 50 WATER QUALITY AND RESOURCES ................................................ 50 5 OVERALL CONCLUSION ON THE CASE FOR DEVELOPMENT CONSENT 51 6 COMPULSORY ACQUISITION AND RELATED MATTERS ..................... 53 THE REQUEST FOR COMPULSORY ACQUISITION POWERS ..................... 53 THE REQUEST FOR RELATED COMPULSORY POWERS ........................... 54 THE PURPOSES FOR WHICH THE LAND IS REQUIRED ........................... 54 THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE PLANNING ACT 2008 ............................. 56 HOW THE CASE FOR COMPULSORY ACQUISITION WAS EXAMINED ........... 57 THE CASE FOR THE APPLICANT .................................................... 59 OBJECTOR'S CASES ................................................................. 68 THE EXAMINING AUTHORITY’S CONCLUSIONS .................................. 68 THE EXAMINING AUTHORITY’S RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE GRANTING OF COMPULSORY ACQUISITION POWERS ............................................. 73 7 DRAFT DEVELOPMENT CONSENT ORDER ....................................... 74 GENERAL MATTERS .................................................................. 74 ARTICLES ............................................................................. 75 SCHEDULE 1 PART 1 – AUTHORISED DEVELOPMENT ........................... 83 SCHEDULE 1 PART 2 – REQUIREMENTS .......................................... 85 Report to the Secretary of State 2 Template version 0.96 SCHEDULES 5 AND 6 – LAND IN WHICH ONLY NEW RIGHTS ETC. MAY BE ACQUIRED AND LAND OVER WHICH RESTRICTIVE OBLIGATIONS AND RIGHT OF SUPPORT ARE REQUIRED ............................................................ 89 SCHEDULE 9 – PROTECTIVE PROVISIONS ........................................ 90 OTHER LEGAL AGREEMENTS ........................................................ 90 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION ............................................ 91 8 OVERALL CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION ......................... 92 EXAMINATION LIBRARY .......................................................... 2 EVENT IN THE EXAMINATION ................................................ 14 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................... 18 Appendices Contents APPENDIX A - RECOMMENDED DEVELOPMENT CONSENT ORDER ............ 1 APPENDIX B ..................................................................................... 2 APPENDIX C ................................................................................... 14 APPENDIX D .................................................................................. 18 Report to the Secretary of State 3 Template version 0.96 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 The proposed development, the Willington C Gas Pipeline, comprises a buried gas pipeline approximately 27km in length. It would include an above ground installation at the start point near Yoxall in Staffordshire, where a connection would be made into the national gas transmission system. It would terminate at a block valve within the site of the proposed Willington C Power Station in Derbyshire. The route of the pipeline is shown on drawing UKP/WLC/0186/S0/D [REP-115]. Throughout this report, references in square brackets [] refer to the examination documents listed in the examination library at Appendix B. 1.2 The Willington C Gas Pipeline is a nationally significant infrastructure project (NSIP) as defined by s14(1)(g), s21(1) and s21(2)(a) of the Planning Act 2008 (PA2008). Development consent is required before the project can proceed. The project is an NSIP: under s14(1)(g) because it would comprise the construction of a pipeline other than by a gas transporter; under s21(1) as it is a cross-country pipeline whose length is intended to exceed 16.093 km and would require authorisation under s1(1) of the Pipelines Act 1962; and under s21(2)(a) because both ends of it are in England. 1.3 An application for development consent was submitted on 25 July 2013 and accepted for examination on 22 August 2013 [PD-001]. I was appointed on 18 October 2013 as the Examining Authority (ExA) to examine and report on the application [PD-003]. 1.4 The applicant gave notice [CERT-001] under s56 of the PA2008 to the persons prescribed that the application had been accepted and gave them an opportunity to make relevant representations. It certified [CERT-004] on 17 October 2013 that this had been carried out. 119 relevant representations were subsequently received [REP-014 to 025]. 1.5 A letter, under Rule 6 of the Infrastructure Planning (Examination Procedure) Rules 2010 (EPR), together with the initial assessment of principal issues, was issued on 28 November 2013 [PD-003]. A preliminary meeting was held in Town Hall, King Edward Place, Burton upon Trent on 10 January 2014 at which the applicant and interested parties were able to make representations to me about how the application should be examined. The examination began on 11 January 2014. 1.6 Development consent under the PA2008 can only be granted by the Secretary of State (SoS) and this report provides the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with my findings and conclusions on the application for development consent for the Willington C Gas Pipeline. This report also comprises my recommendation on whether to grant consent for the project and recommendations on the terms of the Report to the Secretary of State 4 Template version 0.96 Development Consent Order (DCO) should the SoS agree with my recommendation. 1.7 The application is Environmental Impact Assessment development as defined by The Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2009 as amended (the EIA Regulations). It was accompanied by an Environmental Statement (ES) which, in my view, meets the definition given in Regulation