E17 High Speed Rail (West Midlands - Crewe) Environmental Statement Volume 2: Community Area report CA5: South Cheshire High Speed Two (HS2) Limited Two Snowhill Snow Hill Queensway Birmingham B4 6GA 08081 434 434 [email protected] E17 July 2017 ES 3.2.1.5 E17 High Speed Rail (West Midlands - Crewe) Crewe) Midlands - Speed Rail (West High Environmental Statement High Speed Rail (West Midlands - Crewe) Environmental Statement Volume 2: Community Area report CA5: South Cheshire Volume 2: Community Area report Community 2: Volume E17 July 2017 ES 3.2.1.5 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, Two Snowhill Snow Hill Queensway Birmingham B4 6GA Telephone: 08081 434 434 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, 2017, 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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Environmental Statement Volume 2: Community area 5, South Cheshire Contents Preface v Structure of the HS2 Phase 2a Environmental Statement vi 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Introduction to HS2 1 1.2 Purpose of this report 4 1.3 Structure of this report 4 2 Overview of the area and description of the Proposed Scheme 6 2.1 Overview of the area 6 2.2 Description of the Proposed Scheme 13 2.3 Construction of the Proposed Scheme 33 2.4 Operation of the Proposed Scheme 66 2.5 Route section alternatives 67 3 Stakeholder engagement and consultation 82 3.1 Introduction 82 3.2 Key stages of Phase 2a engagement and consultation 82 3.3 Engagement and consultation with stakeholder groups 85 4 Agriculture, forestry and soils 89 4.1 Introduction 89 4.2 Scope, assumptions and limitations 89 4.3 Environmental baseline 90 4.4 Effects arising during construction 99 4.5 Effects arising from operation 111 5 Air quality 113 5.1 Introduction 113 5.2 Scope, assumptions and limitations 113 5.3 Environmental baseline 114 5.4 Effects arising during construction 116 5.5 Effects arising from operation 119 i Environmental Statement Volume 2: Community area 5, South Cheshire 6 Community 121 6.1 Introduction 121 6.2 Scope, assumptions and limitations 121 6.3 Environmental baseline 122 6.4 Effects arising during construction 123 6.5 Effects arising from operation 129 7 Cultural heritage 132 7.1 Introduction 132 7.2 Scope, assumptions and limitations 133 7.3 Environmental baseline 134 7.4 Effects arising during construction 141 7.5 Effects arising from operation 145 8 Ecology and biodiversity 147 8.1 Introduction 147 8.2 Scope, assumptions and limitations 147 8.3 Environmental baseline 148 8.4 Effects arising during construction 158 8.5 Effects arising from operation 169 9 Health 172 9.1 Introduction 172 9.2 Scope, assumptions and limitations 172 9.3 Environmental baseline 174 9.4 Effects arising during construction 177 9.5 Effects arising from operation 183 10 Land quality 185 10.1 Introduction 185 10.2 Scope, assumptions and limitations 185 10.3 Environmental baseline 186 10.4 Effects arising during construction 197 10.5 Effects arising from operation 207 11 Landscape and visual 208 11.1 Introduction 208 11.2 Scope, assumptions and limitations 209 11.3 Environmental baseline 209 11.4 Temporary effects arising during construction 212 11.5 Permanent effects arising during operation 223 12 Socio-economics 236 12.1 Introduction 236 12.2 Scope, assumptions and limitations 236 12.3 Environmental baseline 236 ii Environmental Statement Volume 2: Community area 5, South Cheshire 12.4 Effects arising during construction 239 12.5 Effects arising from operation 242 13 Sound, noise and vibration 244 13.1 Introduction 244 13.2 Scope, assumptions and limitations 245 13.3 Environmental baseline 245 13.4 Effects arising during construction 247 13.5 Effects arising from operation 253 14 Traffic and transport 260 14.1 Introduction 260 14.2 Scope, assumptions and limitations 260 14.3 Environmental baseline 261 14.4 Effects arising during construction 265 14.5 Effects arising from operation 277 15 Water resources and flood risk 284 15.1 Introduction 284 15.2 Scope, assumptions and limitations 285 15.3 Environmental baseline 285 15.4 Effects arising during construction 294 15.5 Effects arising from operation 302 16 References 304 List of figures Figure 1: Structure of the Environment Statement 1 Figure 2: The HS2 Phase 2a route and community areas 3 Figure 3: Area context map 7 Figure 4: Key permanent features of route of the Proposed Scheme in the South Cheshire area 15 Figure 5: Construction compounds showing key civil engineering works within the South Cheshire area 39 Figure 6: Construction compounds within the South Cheshire Area for railway installation works 40 Figure 7: Construction compounds for railway installation works showing key works at Crewe Station 41 Figure 8: Indicative construction programme between 2020 and 2027 61 Figure 9: Business sector composition in CEC area and the North West 237 Figure 10: Employment by industrial sector in the CEC area and the North West 238 List of tables Table 1: Summary of potential cumulative developments for the South Cheshire area 11 Table 2: Demolitions to be managed from the Blakenhall Northbound Spur embankment satellite compound 46 iii Environmental Statement Volume 2: Community area 5, South Cheshire Table 3: Demolitions to be managed from the Blakenhall cutting satellite compound 48 Table 4: Demolitions to be managed from the Crewe South cutting satellite compound 50 Table 5: Demolitions to be managed from the Chorlton cutting satellite compound 54 Table 6: Demolitions to be managed from the Crewe South portal satellite compound 55 Table 7: Demolitions to be managed from the Basford cutting main compound 58 Table 8: Mechanisms and timeline of stakeholder engagement and consultation since the route announcement in November 2015 82 Table 9: Engagement to date with technical and specialist groups 85 Table 10: Meetings held with communities and community stakeholders 88 Table 11: Summary characteristics of holdings 96 Table 12: Agricultural land required for the construction of the Proposed Scheme 101 Table 13: Summary of effects on holdings during construction 103 Table 14: Agricultural land required permanently 107 Table 15: Summary of permanent effects on holdings from construction 108 Table 16: Committed developments relevant to community 123 Table 17: Committed developments relevant to cultural heritage 140 Table 18: Protected and notable species within the South Cheshire area 153 Table 19: Committed developments relevant to health 176 Table 20: Summary of the superficial and bedrock units underlying the Proposed Scheme in the South Cheshire area 187 Table 21: Landfill sites located within the study area 192 Table 22: Summary of sensitive receptors 196 Table 23: Committed developments relevant to land quality 197 Table 24: Summary of baseline CSM for sites which may pose a contaminative risk for the Proposed Scheme 200 Table 25: Summary of permanent (post-construction) effects 203 Table 26: Summary of effects for mining, mineral resources and oil and gas resources 205 Table 27: Construction phase significant landscape effects 213 Table 28: Construction phase significant visual effects 215 Table 29: Operational phase significant landscape effects 224 Table 30 : Operational phase significant visual effects 226 Table 31: Committed developments relevant to socio-economics 241 Table 32: Direct adverse effects on residential communities and shared open areas during construction that are considered to be significant on a community basis 250 Table 33: Direct adverse effects on residential communities and shared open areas during operations that are considered significant on a community basis 257 Table 34: Typical vehicle trip generation for construction sites in the South Cheshire area 267 Table 35: Key surface water bodies and their WFD status 286 Table 36: Summary of geology and hydrogeology in the study area 288 Table 37: River flood risk sources and receptors 292 Table 38: Surface water flooding sources and receptors 292 iv Environmental Statement Volume 2: Community area 5, South Cheshire Preface The Environmental Statement This document forms part of Volume 2 of the Environmental Statement (ES) that accompanies the deposit of the hybrid Bill for Phase 2a of High Speed Two (HS2). Phase 2a comprises the second section of the proposed HS2 rail network, between the West Midlands and Crewe, and is referred to in this ES as the ‘Proposed Scheme’. The ES sets out the Proposed Scheme, its likely significant environmental effects and the measures proposed to mitigate those effects. Phase 2b comprises the remainder of Phase Two, between Crewe and Manchester and between the West Midlands and Leeds, completing what is known as the ‘Y network’.