Environmental Impact Assessment Report Mixed Use Development - Opera Site, Limerick Limerick City and County Council March 2019 Environmental Impact Assessment Report Limerick City and County Council Environmental Impact Assessment Report Limerick City and County Council Prepared for: Limerick City and County Council Prepared by: AECOM Limited 9th Floor, The Clarence West Building 2 Clarence Street West Belfast BT2 7GP United Kingdom T: +44 28 9060 7200 aecom.com © 2018 AECOM Limited. All Rights Reserved. This document has been prepared by AECOM Limited (“AECOM”) for sole use of our client (the “Client”) in accordance with generally accepted consultancy principles, the budget for fees and the terms of reference agreed between AECOM and the Client. Any information provided by third parties and referred to herein has not been checked or verified by AECOM, unless otherwise expressly stated in the document. No third party may rely upon this document without the prior and express written agreement of AECOM. Environmental Impact Assessment Report Limerick City and County Council Table of Contents 1 Introduction ........................................................................................... 1-1 2 Background / Site Location and Context .............................................. 2-1 3 Description of the proposed development ............................................ 3-1 4 Examination of Alternatives .................................................................. 4-1 5 Non-Statutory Consultations ................................................................ 5-1 6 Population and Human Health ............................................................. 6-1 7 Land, Soils & Geology and Groundwater ............................................. 7-1 8 Water .................................................................................................... 8-1 9 Air Quality and Climate ......................................................................... 9-1 10 Noise and Vibration ............................................................................ 10-1 11 Microclimate ....................................................................................... 11-1 12 Landscape and Visual ........................................................................ 12-1 13 Traffic and Transport .......................................................................... 13-1 14 Waste Management ........................................................................... 14-1 15 Material Assets ................................................................................... 15-1 16 Biodiversity ......................................................................................... 16-1 17 Archaeological and Cultural Heritage ................................................. 17-1 18 Architectural Heritage ......................................................................... 18-1 19 Interactions ......................................................................................... 19-1 20 Mitigation & Monitoring ....................................................................... 20-1 Environmental Impact Assessment Report Limerick City and County Council Figures Figure 2.1 Site Context Map (Opera Site Hatched with Green Line) Figure 2.2 Current Site Layout – Aerial view of Opera Site Figure 2.3 Network of Existing and Proposed Urban Spaces (Extract from Design Brief, pg. 45) Figure 2.4 Photomontage of potential new commercial offices on the Opera Site (Extract from Limerick 2030 Plan, pg. xvi) Figure 3.1: Numbered Building Parcels on the Subject Site Figure 3.2: Zone Plan (Source: Source: Limerick 2030 Plan, Sub Section 6.91 – Vision, the Opera Site) Figure 3.3: Historic Block Form, Access Points and Aspect of Key Buildings (Source: 1888-1913 25 inch Ordnance Survey Map) Figure 3.4: Site Opportunities Figure 3.5: Buildings of Heritage Value for Retention Figure 3.6: Development Strategy, Reinstatement of Urban Edges, Creation of Spaces and Permeability Figure 3.7: Links to Future and Existing Public Spaces Figure 3.8: View from South of Massing Model Figure 3.9: View from East of Massing Model Figure 3.10: Existing Materials Palette Figure 3.11: Parcel 1 Massing Sketch Figure 3.12: Axonometric View of the Rear of the Town Hall and Parcel 3A4 Figure 3.13: Bank Place Elevation Figure 3.14: Palette and Precedent Images Figure 3.15: Granary Courtyard Elevation Figure 3.16: Central Plaza Figure 3.17: Example of Load Bearing Support Frame Required for Heritage Buildings During Construction Figure 3.18: Sample Secant Piles Construction Figure 3.19: Phasing of New Build Structures above Podium Level Figure 6.1: Resident Employment by Industry Figure 6.2 Community Facilities within 200m Figure 8.1: Determination of the Significance of the Impact Figure 9.1: Air Quality Receptors and Local Measurement Data Figure 10.1: Existing Receptors and Noise Monitoring Locations Environmental Impact Assessment Report Limerick City and County Council Figure 10.2: Proposed Receptor Locations Figure 11 1: Geometry used to model the proposed development Figure 11 2: Schematic of turbulent airflow around a building block Figure 11 3 : Example of typical mesh Figure 11 4: Typical computational domain for the proposed development Figure 11 5: Typical computational domain for the proposed development Figure 11 6: Google Earth aerial view of proposed development’s location Figure 11 7: Terrain category around the site Figure 11 8: Intended use of the terrain on the site Figure 11 9: Naming convention used for blocks in proposed site Figure 11 10: Location Map Figure 11 11 Geometry used for the simulation of the Existing site (shown in pink) Figure 11 12: Lawson Comfort plot of existing site Figure 11 13 : Lawson 15m/s Distress for frail/elderly and cyclists - Existing. Red indicates unacceptable conditions Figure 11 14: Lawson 20m/s Distress for able-bodied – Existing. Red indicates unacceptable conditions Figure 11 15: Geometry used for the simulation of the proposed development (shown in pink) Figure 11 16: Lawson comfort - Proposed development Figure 11 17: Lawson 15m/s Distress for frail/elderly and cyclists - Proposed development. Red indicates unacceptable conditions Figure 11 18: Lawson 20m/s Distress for able-bodied - Proposed development. Red indicates unacceptable conditions Figure 11 19: Geometry used for the simulation of the proposed development with mitigation Figure 11-20: Mitigation Measure 1 – Porous Gate to Western Courtyard Figure 11-21: Mitigation Measure 2 – Tower Skirt Figure 11-22: Mitigation Measure 3 – Southern Courtyard Planting Figure 11-23: Mitigation Measure 4 – Canopy Above Carpark Entrance/Exit Figure 11-24: Mitigation measure 5 – Planting in the Eastern Courtyard Figure 11-25: Mitigation measure 6 – Retention of Door to Eastern Courtyard Figure 11-26: Mitigation measure 7 – Trees in Bank Place Figure 11 27: Lawson comfort - Proposed development with mitigation Figure 11 28: Lawson 15m/s Distress for frail/elderly and cyclists - Proposed development with mitigation. Red indicates unacceptable conditions Environmental Impact Assessment Report Limerick City and County Council Figure 11 29: Lawson 20m/s Distress for able-bodied - Proposed development with mitigation. Red indicates unacceptable conditions Figure 11-30: Building location Figure 11-31: Building location Figure 11.32: Angular assessment diagram (BRE 209 extract) Figure 11.33: Locations of Buildings and Amenity Spaces assessed Figure 12.1: City Area Profiles (Source LCDP 2010-2016, Figure 14.1) Figure 12.2: Indicative visualisation of city centre vision as per Limerick 2030 report (Fig. 36) Figure 12.3: Indicative visualisation of city centre vision as per Limerick 2030 report (Fig. 38) Figure 12.4: Indicative visualisation for Arthur’s Quay vision as per Limerick 2030 report (Fig. 5) Figure 12.5: Indicative vision for Opera site from Abbey River as per Limerick 2030 report (Fig. 26) Figure 12.6: Key View & Landmarks (Source:Limerick 2030 report (Fig. 15)) Figure 12.7 City Area Profiles (Source: LCDP 2010-2016, Figure 14.1) Figure 12.8 Project Opera: Proposed Architectural Layout Figure 13.1: JTC Survey Locations (Source: Google Maps) Figure 13.2: Limerick Smarter Travel Modal Splits Figure 13.3: 2-3 km Walking Distance from the Development Site Figure 13.4: Limerick Bike Locations (Source Bikeshare.ie / Google Maps) Figure 13.5: A (3km and 5km) cycling isochrones from the centre of the development. Figure 13.6: Location of Limerick City Public Car Parks Figure 13.7: Limerick Urban Centre Revitalisation – O’Connell Street Model Area Figure 15.1: Existing Data Infrastructure Figure 15.2: Existing ESB Infrastructure Figure 15.3: Existing Gas Infrastructure Figure 16.1: Designated Sites for Nature Conservation Figure 16.2: Significant Ecological Features Figure 16.3: Mitigation for Significant Ecological Features Figure 17.1: Site location showing surrounding recorded monuments Figure 17.2: Extract from William Eyres’ Map A Plan of Limerick, 1752 Figure 17.3: Extract from First Edition OS Map (1840-1), showing the proposed development area Figure 17.4: Extract from 25-inch OS Map (1900), showing the proposed development area Environmental Impact Assessment Report Limerick City and County Council Tables Table 1.1: Description of Effects as per EPA Guidelines (Draft, 2017) Table 3.1 : Summary of Uses (Including Retail Basements sq m) Table 3.2: Overview of Parcels Table 7.1: Potential Hazard Severity Definition Table 7.2: Probability of Risk