HS2 Phase 2a: West Midlands to Crewe HS2 Phase 2a: West Midlands to Crewe High Speed Two Phase 2a: West Midlands to Crewe Working Draft Environmental Impact Assessment Report Working Draft EIA Report | Volume 2: Community Area report | CA1: Fradley to Colton Working Draft EIA Report | Volume 2: Community Area report | CA1: Fradley to Colton Volume 2: Community Area report CA1: Fradley to Colton September2016 September2016 High Speed Two (HS2) Limited One Canada Square Canary Wharf September 2016 London E14 5AB www.gov.uk/hs2 CS590_C6 High Speed Two Phase 2a: West Midlands to Crewe Working Draft Environmental Impact Assessment Report Volume 2: Community Area report CA1: Fradley to Colton September 2016 High Speed Two (HS2) Limited has been tasked by the Department for Transport (DfT) with managing the delivery of a new national high speed rail network. It is a non-departmental public body wholly owned by the DfT. High Speed Two (HS2) Limited, One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5AB Telephone: 020 7944 4908 General email enquiries: [email protected] Website: www.gov.uk/hs2 A report prepared for High Speed Two (HS2) Limited: High Speed Two (HS2) Limited has actively considered the needs of blind and partially sighted people in accessing this document. The text will be made available in full on the HS2 website. The text may be freely downloaded and translated by individuals or organisations for conversion into other accessible formats. If you have other needs in this regard please contact High Speed Two (HS2) Limited. © High Speed Two (HS2) Limited, 2016, except where otherwise stated. Copyright in the typographical arrangement rests with High Speed Two (HS2) Limited. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence v2.0. 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Working draft EIA Report, Volume 2: CA1, Fradley to Colton Contents Structure of the working draft Environmental Impact Assessment Report v 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Introduction to HS2 1 1.2 Purpose of this report 3 1.3 Structure of this report 3 2 Overview of the area and description of the Proposed Scheme 5 2.1 Overview of the area 5 2.2 Description of the Proposed Scheme 9 2.3 Construction of the Proposed Scheme 18 2.4 Operation of the Proposed Scheme 35 2.5 Route section alternatives 35 3 Stakeholder engagement and consultation 41 3.1 Introduction 41 3.2 Key stages of Phase 2a engagement and consultation 41 3.3 Technical and specialist groups 42 3.4 Local authorities and parish councils 43 3.5 Communities 44 3.6 Directly affected individuals and landowners 44 3.7 SMR consultation 45 3.8 Informing the Proposed Scheme 46 3.9 Consultation on the working draft EIA Report and ongoing engagement 46 4 Agriculture, forestry and soils 47 4.1 Introduction 47 4.2 Scope, assumptions and limitations 48 4.3 Environmental baseline 48 4.4 Effects arising during construction 55 4.5 Effects arising from operation 60 5 Air quality 62 5.1 Introduction 62 5.2 Scope, assumptions and limitations 62 i Working draft EIA Report, Volume 2: CA1, Fradley to Colton 5.3 Environmental baseline 62 5.4 Effects arising during construction 63 5.5 Effects arising from operation 65 6 Community 66 6.1 Introduction 66 6.2 Scope, assumptions and limitations 66 6.3 Environmental baseline 66 6.4 Effects arising during construction 67 6.5 Effects arising from operation 69 7 Cultural heritage 71 7.1 Introduction 71 7.2 Scope, assumptions and limitations 71 7.3 Environmental baseline 72 7.4 Effects arising during construction 81 7.5 Effects arising from operation 86 8 Ecology and biodiversity 88 8.1 Introduction 88 8.2 Scope, assumptions and limitations 88 8.3 Environmental baseline 88 8.4 Effects arising during construction 91 8.5 Effects arising from operation 97 9 Health 99 9.1 Introduction 99 9.2 Scope, assumptions and limitations 99 9.3 Environmental baseline 100 9.4 Effects arising during construction 100 9.5 Effects arising from operation 106 10 Land quality 108 10.1 Introduction 108 10.2 Scope, assumptions and limitations 108 10.3 Environmental baseline 109 10.4 Effects arising during construction 114 10.5 Effects arising from operation 120 11 Landscape and visual 122 11.1 Introduction 122 11.2 Scope, assumptions and limitations 123 11.3 Environmental baseline 124 11.4 Effects arising during construction 126 11.5 Effects arising from operation 136 12 Socio-economics 146 12.1 Introduction 146 12.2 Scope, assumptions and limitations 146 12.3 Environmental baseline 147 ii Working draft EIA Report, Volume 2: CA1, Fradley to Colton 12.4 Effects arising during construction 149 12.5 Effects arising from operation 150 13 Sound, noise and vibration 151 13.1 Introduction 151 13.2 Scope, assumptions and limitations 152 13.3 Environmental baseline 152 13.4 Effects arising during construction 152 13.5 Effects arising from operation 155 14 Traffic and transport 159 14.1 Introduction 159 14.2 Scope, assumptions and limitations 159 14.3 Environmental baseline 159 14.4 Effects arising during construction 161 14.5 Effects arising from operation 164 15 Water resources and flood risk 168 15.1 Introduction 168 15.2 Scope, assumptions and limitations 168 15.3 Environmental baseline 169 15.4 Effects arising during construction 172 15.5 Effects arising from operation 180 16 References 181 List of figures Figure 1: The HS2 Phase 2a route and community areas 2 Figure 2: Area context map 6 Figure 3: Construction compounds showing key indicative civil engineering works within the Fradley to Colton Area 22 Figure 4: Construction compounds showing key indicative railway installation works within the Fradley to Colton area 23 Figure 5: Indicative construction programme 34 Figure 6: Business sector composition in LDC area and the West Midlands 147 Figure 7: Employment by Industrial Sector in LDC area and the West Midlands 148 List of tables Table 1: Mechanisms and timeline of stakeholder engagement since route announcement 41 Table 2: Summary characteristics of holdings 53 Table 3: Summary of potential permanent effects on holdings from construction 58 Table 4: Species potentially relevant to the assessment within the Fradley to Colton area 90 Table 5: Anticipated significant residual ecological effects during construction 96 Table 6: Residual significant effects on ecological resources/features during operation 98 Table 7: Summary of sensitive receptors 113 iii Working draft EIA Report, Volume 2: CA1, Fradley to Colton Table 8: Summary of baseline CSM for sites which may pose a contaminative risk for the Proposed Scheme 115 Table 9: Summary of temporary (construction) effects 116 Table 10: Summary of permanent (post-construction) effects 117 Table 11: Summary of effects for mining for mineral resources 119 Table 12: Key surface water bodies and their WFD status 169 Table 13: Groundwater bodies and their WFD status 171 iv Working draft EIA Report, Volume 2: CA1, Fradley to Colton Structure of the working draft Environmental Impact Assessment Report This document is part of the working draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report for Phase 2a of the proposed High Speed Two (HS2) rail network between the West Midlands and Crewe (the Proposed Scheme). The working draft EIA Report sets out the current design of the Proposed Scheme, the likely environmental impacts (and, where possible, the likely significant environmental effects) of the construction and operation of the Proposed Scheme and proposed mitigation measures. The assessment will be updated for the formal EIA Report to reflect further work on the design, assessment and mitigation between now and when the hybrid Bill is deposited. The working draft EIA Report comprises the following documents: Non-technical summary This provides a summary in non-technical language of: • the Proposed Scheme and reasonable alternatives considered; • the impacts of the Proposed Scheme (and, where possible, the likely significant environmental effects), both beneficial and adverse; and • the proposed means of avoiding, reducing or managing the likely significant adverse effects. Volume 1: Introduction and methodology This provides: • a description of HS2, the EIA process and the approach to consultation and engagement; • details of the permanent features of the Proposed Scheme and generic construction techniques, based on the current level of design; • a summary of the scope and methodology for the environmental topics; and • a summary of the strategic, route-wide and route corridor alternatives to the scheme and local alternatives considered prior to November 2015. Volume 1 also comprises a glossary of terms and list of abbreviations and two appendices which are listed below. Volume 2: Community area reports and map books These cover the following community areas: 1 Fradley to Colton; 2 Colwich to Yarlet; 3 Stone and Swynnerton; 4 Whitmore Heath to Madeley; and 5 South Cheshire. The reports provide the following for each area: • an overview of the area; • a description of the construction and operation of the Proposed Scheme within the area, based on the current level of design; v Working draft EIA Report, Volume 2: CA1, Fradley to Colton • a summary of the local alternatives considered since November 2015; • a description of the environmental baseline; • a description of the environmental impacts of the Proposed Scheme (and, where possible, the likely significant environmental effects), both beneficial and adverse; and • the proposed means of avoiding, reducing or managing the likely significant adverse effects.