Harborough District Councils Scoping Opinion in response to Scoping Report submitted by Peter Brett Associates (PBA) on behalf of IDI Gazeley for the erection of a building of up to 100,000 sq m floorspace for B8 (storage and distribution) use, including ancillary B1 (office) floorspace at Land at Mere Lane, Bittesby 1 Introduction: 1.1 PBA have suggested that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is required as part of the forthcoming application for the erection of a building of up to 100,000 sq m floorspace for B8 (storage and distribution) use, including ancillary B1 (office) floorspace in an area to the north west of Magna Park. They have therefore submitted a report and asked for a scoping opinion from the planning authority as to the required contents of an EIA. The Council as local planning authority is required to provide a scoping opinion in accordance with Part 4 section 10 of the Town and Country Planning Act. Outlined below is the Councils ‘Scoping Opinion’ incorporating representations and the opinions of officers. 2 Site: 2.1 The indicative site comprises approximately 60 ha of land to the north and west of Mere Lane and the east of the A5, adjacent to Magna Park, Lutterworth. The nearest local settlement is Willey which is 0.85 km away and separated from the site by the A5. To the north are the villages of Ullesthorpe and Claybrooke Parva which are located 1.7 km and 2.4 km from the site respectively. The town of Lutterworth is located 1.7 km to the east, beyond which is located Junction 20 of the M1. The existing Magna Park comprises a site of over 200 ha that provides approximately 761,700 sq m of B8 floorspace with ancillary B1 space for 25 separate occupiers together with some 3,500 sq m of B1 floorspace in a free-standing office HQ. 2.2 The application site comprises three large open arable fields, two smaller enclosed fields, some mature hedgerow boundaries and mixed native tree belts. The site gently slopes away from Mere Lane towards the Upper Soar Valley from circa 125 m AOD in the north east to circa 110 m in the west. 2.3 The site is crossed by a farm track and permissive access bridleways created under a Higher Level Stewardship scheme administered by Natural England, with the current agreement set to run until 31st October 2017. Two cottages, known as Bittesby cottages, are located on this farm track to the west of the site. 2.4 Further north, parts of three further arable fields are included within the site area, up to the ridge line which is marked by a bridleway. To the north west, the red line boundary of the site also includes a 20 m wide strip of arable land proposed for offsite tree planting. The strip lies alongside an existing hedgerow - 1 - and continues across an arable field to meet the existing ridgeline hedgerow that forms the Ullesthorpe Parish boundary. 2.5 At the north eastern end of the site is the Mere Lane Fisheries Lake which attenuates water draining from Magna Park and feeds a watercourse that runs along a small tributary valley of the River Soar to the northern and western flanks of the site. 2.6 To the south east of Mere Lane, the site includes an area of rough grassland and two belts of trees located adjacent to the Magna Park water treatment and attenuation pools and another water course draining from these pools flows along the south western end of the site. To the south and east of the site, also on the opposite side of Mere Lane are the warehouses of the existing Magna Park development. 3 The Proposal: 3.1 The proposed development is for the erection of a single building of up to 90,000 sq m for B8 (storage and distribution) use, including ancillary B1 (office) floorspace, together with associated fuelling and vehicle washing facilities, the creation of a new junction and new access from Mere Lane and the existing Magna Park, associated roads, parking for HGVs and cars, servicing areas, and landscaping (including tree planting as part of the proposed landscape strategy. The expected height of the building will be up to 23m. 4 Consultations: 4.1 Natural England: The scoping request is for a proposal that does not appear, from the information provided, to affect any nationally designated geological or ecological sites (Ramsar, SPA, SAC, SSSI, NNR) or landscapes (National Parks, AONBs, Heritage Coasts, National Trails), or have significant impacts on the protection of soils (particularly of sites over 20ha of best or most versatile land), nor is the development for a mineral or waste site of over 5ha. 4.2 At present therefore it is not a priority for Natural England to advise on the detail of this EIA. We would, however, like to draw your attention to some key points of advice, presented in annex to this letter, and we would expect the final Environmental Statement (ES) to include all necessary information as outlined in Schedule 4 of the Town & Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2011. If you believe that the development does affect one of the features listed in paragraph 3 above, please contact Natural England at [email protected], and we may be able to provide further information. 4.3 Highway Agency: The Highways Agency (“the Agency”) is a statutory consultee on planning applications under the Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) Order 1995 (as amended). The Agency therefore welcomes pre- application discussion, including the opportunity to provide advice on the scope of any Environmental Statement pursuant to the procedures set out in the Town - 2 - and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2011, which also identify the Agency as a statutory party. 4.4 You have invited the Agency to provide comments on the scope of an Environmental Impact Assessment Scoping Opinion for the erection of a building of up to 90,000m² floorspace for B8 (storage and distribution) use, including ancillary B1 (office) floorspace, at land off, Mere Lane, Bittesby. 4.5 I have set out below both the general and specific areas of concerns that the Agency would wish to see considered as part of an Environmental Statement. The comments relate specifically to matters arising from the Agency’s responsibilities to manage and maintain the Strategic Road Network (SRN) in England. 4.6 Comments relating to the local road network should be sought from the appropriate local highway authority. 4.7 General aspects to be addressed in all cases: An assessment of transport related impacts of the proposal should be carried out and reported as described in the Department for Transport ‘Guidance on Transport Assessment (GTA)’. It is noted that this guidance has been archived, however still provides a good practice guide in preparing a Transport Assessment. In addition, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) also provide guidance on preparing Transport Assessments Environmental impact arising from any disruption during construction, traffic volume, composition or routing change and transport infrastructure modification should be fully assessed and reported. Adverse change to noise and to air quality should be particularly considered, including in relation to compliance with the European air quality limit values and/or in local authority designated Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs). 4.8 Location specific considerations: A Transport Assessment will be necessary to support the proposals in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and also ‘DfT Circular 02/2013’. PBA have submitted a scoping report and also ‘Baseline Paper 4 – Access and Transport’ dated Dec 2014 prepared by URS. The impact from the proposed development is anticipated at various junctions along the A5 and also at the M1 J20. Detailed analysis of the various SRN junctions should be submitted in a Transport Assessment. It is advised that the Agency had pre-application discussions with the developer consultants and it is encouraged that these discussions continue until the impact from the development is assessed and agreed with the Highways Agency prior to submission of a planning application. 4.9 These comments are only advisory, as the responsibility for determining the final scope of the Environmental Statement would rest with the Local Planning Authority. The Agency comments imply no pre-determined view as to the acceptability of the proposed development in traffic, environmental or highway terms. Should the applicant wish to discuss the merits of the proposal in terms - 3 - of the likely impact on the SRN please contact me on 0121 687 2583 or [email protected]. 4.10 Environment Agency: According to Agency maps, the area of the proposed development closest to the ‘Medieval Village of Bittesby’ appears to be in very close proximity of Flood Zone 3. New proposal for development within land lying in Flood Zone 3 would be subject to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) Sequential Test. 4.12 Due to the scale of the proposed development, any application submission would need to include an NPPF complaint Flood Risk Assessment. 4.13 Bitteswell Aerodrome is located in the south-eastern corner of the proposed application site. There is also, according to Agency maps, an historic landfill at the site of the Aerodrome. There is therefore the risk of contaminated land within the application site. The site is underlain by Aquifer (and in relative proximity to an ‘ordinary’ watercourse), making the site sensitive from a controlled waters perspective. Therefore, it is important that the area of land in the south-eastern corner is included in any Phase I Geo-environmental Assessment desk study, (as well as the wider application site).