SECTION 153 OF THE PLANNING ACT 2008, PARAGRAPH 2 OF REGULATION 6 OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING (CHANGES TO, AND REVOCATION OF, DEVELOPMENT CONSENT ORDERS) REGULATIONS 2011 (AS AMENDED) APPLICATION TO MAKE A NON-MATERIAL CHANGE TO THE FOLLOWING DEVELOPMENT CONSENT ORDER: The A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon Improvement Scheme Development Consent Order 2016 (SI 2016 No 547) (as corrected by the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon Improvement Scheme Development Consent (Correction) Order 2017 (SI 2017/1121)) 5. Letters to the Department for Transport seeking and granting permission to carry out a targeted consultation January 2019 Our ref:TR010018 Woodlands Manton Lane Bedford MK41 7LW Natasha Kopala Head of TWA Orders Unit Department for Transport 26 November 2018 Zone 1/14 – 18 Great Minster House 33 Horseferry Road London SW1P 4DR Dear Ms Kopala, Proposed non-material change to the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon Improvement Scheme Development Consent Order 2016 The Infrastructure Planning (Changes to, and Revocation of, Development Consent Orders) Regulations: Regulation 7(3) – request for exemption from consulting with certain stakeholders on the above application In January 2015 the then Highways Agency submitted a DCO application for the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon Improvement Scheme. The A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon Improvement Scheme Development Consent Order 2016 (the Order) was subsequently made by the Secretary of State for Transport on 11 May 2016. The original DCO submission, documentation and decision can be found on the Planning Inspectorate’s website. Following the Roads Minister’s instruction to Highways England, in 2018, requesting that the new A14 be classified as a motorway, Highways England intends to seek consent from the Secretary of State to make a non-material change to the Order. The proposed change to the DCO is necessary to allow the road’s status to be changed from an all-purpose trunk road as this is not possible pursuant to the original Order. Annex A describes the proposed non- material change. As part of the submission process Highways England, as the scheme’s promoter, must consult specified persons about its application to afford those persons the opportunity to Registered office: Bridge House, 1 Walnut Tree Close, Guildford GU1 4LZ Highways England Company Limited, registered in England and Wales number 09346363 make a representation about the non-material change application. Highways England is already engaging with those who may have an interest in the proposed non-material change. Annex B provides an overview of the engagement and consultation undertaken to date for the original DCO and this proposed non-material change application. This letter lists the consultees we propose to consult about the proposed non-material change application and those we do not intend to send a copy of the publicity notice for this non-material change application. It also sets out the reasons for seeking consent not to send the notice to certain parties. This letter is a request under regulation 7(3) of the Infrastructure Planning (Changes to, and Revocation of, Development Consent Orders) Regulations 2011. It states that an applicant need not consult a specified person or authority if they have obtained the written consent of the Secretary of State. The regulation enables Highways England to seek your consent not to consult certain parties on the proposed non-material change application. Annex C sets out who we propose to consult and who we do not intend to directly consult. Highways England intends to submit its application for a non-material change to the Order on 7 January 2019. We therefore respectfully ask that a decision is made in respect of this request for an exemption from consulting certain parties as identified below by 10 December 2018 if possible. Should you have any queries about this correspondence, the proposals or the consultation, please contact , my stakeholder engagement manager, on or . Yours sincerely, David Bray Project Director, A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon Improvement Scheme Email: Tel: 0300 123 5000 Page 2 of 44 Annex A: Summary of changes resulting from a change to motorway status What would not change What would change 1. The route’s engineering, design and 1. Motorway Regulations applied to physical layout A14(M) from Girton to Ellington and the 2. Junction positions and designs extended A1(M) from Alconbury to 3. A14 Cambridge northern bypass (Girton Brampton, including prohibition of slow- to Milton) remains as a trunk road moving (ostensibly farm machinery and 4. Prohibition of pedestrians, cyclists, mopeds) vehicles equestrians from the route 2. Blue motorway signs replace green 5. Alternative routes and new facilities signs being provided for pedestrians, cyclists, 3. Provision for using variable mandatory equestrians speed limits on the motorway to help 6. Crossing points and bridges for local manage traffic flow efficiency and safety roads so communities remain connected around incidents to their neighbours 4. Small transfer of traffic from local roads 7. Alternative routes avoiding the new A14 to the A14(M), helping get the right and widened A1 using existing and new traffic on the right roads local roads 5. Noise and air quality effects, in line with 8. Access to farms and land is all from the traffic volume changes, are local roads, not the new A14 predicted to be small 9. New A14 open to traffic by end 2020 10. Scheme total cost 11. Traffic Officer service patrolling the route Page 3 of 44 Annex B: consultation and engagement to date. Original DCO scheme consultation, 2014 About 5,000 consultees were involved in the original DCO process. This included local authorities down to parish councils, land and property owners, farmers/agri-businesses, major local employers, and the general public. During the statutory pre-application consultation we (then named Highways Agency) engaged with 1,390 consultees. Annex C below list all consultees that were notified of an accepted application under s56 of the Planning Act 2008. Media coverage and announcement of proposed motorway status In early September 2018 we reviewed the project’s stakeholder map and contacted those stakeholders identified as being potentially directly affected by the non-material amendment: • c.60 stakeholders were identified who could be directly affected by the proposed non- material change of the new A14 from an all-purpose road with a speed limit of 70mph to motorway status • five local authorities and 26 parish councils • land owners, farmers and agri-businesses which operate along the route We wrote to the parties above explaining our intention and the proposed change to motorway status would bring. We also used local media, the scheme’s website and social media to raise awareness more widely. The local media covered the motorway proposal announcement in print, on TV and radio, and online. Outlets included: • BBC East TV – news broadcasts and online • BBC Radio Cambridgeshire – broadcast news, breakfast and drivetime shows, and online • ITV Anglia news – broadcast and online • Heart regional radio – broadcast and online • Cambridge News – print and online • Hunts Post – print and online • East Anglian Daily Times – print and online By the end of October 2018 we had received 18 comments or questions, including social media conversations, about the proposal. Of these, two were statements of concern by farming businesses wanting assurances that their ability to move farm machinery around the area was not at risk, another was a question about effects on house prices. The remainder were comments about, support for, or objections to the proposal. An indication of the level of interest in motorway status is that only 18 comments were received from a local-to-scheme population of 100,000 people (in 20 villages and two towns), 130,000 city Cambridge residents and 85,000 A14 road users per day. Page 4 of 44 Annex C: List of those we proposed to consult and those we do not. Reasons for targeted consultation The reasons for the request for an exemption from contacting the full list of original DCO consultees (parties notified under s56 for the original application): • No change to route design or layout • No new/extra compulsory acquisition of land • No direct impact of the road’s status change on the majority of the original consultees or their interests The reasons we are proposing to consult or not consult with specific consultees of the original DCO application are: Original consultees we are proposing to Original consultees we are not consult with proposing to consult with Prescribed consultees Prescribed consultees • Which will be directly impacted by • Which are not directly impacted by the proposed non-material change the amendment and with which we have been in contact/ working with during construction of the scheme Relevant affected statutory undertakers Unaffected statutory undertakers identified • Whose assets are likely to be in the original s56 list directly affected by different • which do not have assets affected access/services location rules within by the amendment the motorway/highway boundary Relevant parish councils • All parish councils along the length of the scheme identified and notified about the accepted application under s56. Relevant local authorities • Hosting and neighbouring local authorities identified and notified under s56. Individual land interest consultees and land Individual land interest original consultees interest organisations with known local and land interest organisations with no