West Midlands Interchange Formal Eia Scoping Opinion Request
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Intended for Four Ashes Ltd Date September, 2016 Project Number UK15-22821_Scoping WEST MIDLANDS INTERCHANGE FORMAL EIA SCOPING OPINION REQUEST WEST MIDLANDS INTERCHANGE FORMAL EIA SCOPING OPINION REQUEST Project No. UK15-22821 Issue No. 4 Date 12/09/2016 Made by Rachel Naylor Checked by Matt Royall Approved by Matt Royall Made by: Checked/Approved by: This report has been prepared by Ramboll Environ with all reasonable skill, c are and diligence, and taking account of the Services and the Terms agreed between Ramboll Environ and the Client. This report is confidential to the Client, and Ramboll Environ ac c epts no responsibility whatsoever to third parties to whom this report, or any part thereof, is made known, unless formally agreed by Ramboll Environ beforehand. Any such party relies upon the report at their own risk. Ramboll Environ disc laims any responsibility to the Client and others in respect of any matters outside the agreed scope of the Services. Version Control Log Revision Date Made by Checked Approved Description by by 1 07/03/2016 RN MR MR First Draft 2 25/07/2016 RN MR MR Second Draft For Team Re- view 3 06/09/2016 RN MR MR Final Draft For Legal Sign-off 4 12/09/16 RN MR MR Final R amboll E nviron A rtillery House 11-19 Artillery Row L ondon SW1P 1RT U nited K ingdom T +44 207 808 1420 www.ramboll-env ir on .c o m Formal EIA Scoping Opinion Request West Midlands Interchange CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects and Need for an Environmental Impact Assessment 4 1.3 Request for a Scoping Opinion 5 1.4 Purpose of the EIA Scoping Report 5 1.5 C onsultation Strategy 6 2. SITE DESCRIPTION 7 2.1 Site Location 7 2.2 Site Description 7 2.3 Alternatives Sites 8 3. PROJECT AND DESCRIPTION OF DEVELOPMENT 10 3.1 Introduction 10 3.2 West Terminal Option 11 3.3 East Terminal Option 11 3.4 Development Evolution 12 4. PLANNING CONTEXT 13 4.1 Planning History 13 4.2 Legislation and Policy 15 5. EIA PROCESS 18 5.1 Format and Content of the EIA 18 5.2 EIA Approach 19 6. PROPOSED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT SCOPE 22 6.1 Introduction 22 6.2 Agriculture and Soils 23 6.3 Air Quality 26 6.4 Archaeology and Cultural Heritage 31 6.5 Ecology 40 6.6 Ground Conditions 60 6.7 Landscape and Visual 65 6.8 Noise and Vibration 76 6.9 Socio-economics 80 6.10 Transport and Access 97 6.11 Water Environment and Flood Risk 100 6.12 Cumulative Effects 105 7. NON-SIGNIFICANT ISSUES 108 7.2 Waste 108 7.3 Telecommunication Interference 108 7.4 Light Spillage 109 7.5 Daylight, Sunlight and Overshadowing 110 7.6 Wind Microclimate 110 7.7 Aviation 110 Formal EIA Scoping Opinion Request 1 West Midlands Interchange 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background 1.1.1 Four Ashes Limited (hereafter referred to as the ‘Applicant’) intends to make an application (‘Application’) to the Secretary of State (‘SoS’) via the Planning Inspectorate (‘PINS’) for a Development Consent Order (‘DCO’) under the Planning Act 2008 for the development of a new Strategic Rail Freight Interchange (‘SRFI’) and associated warehousing (together, the ‘Proposed Development’) at land located at Four Ashes, Staffordshire (the ‘Site’) (see Figure 1). The Proposed Development is also known as the West Midlands Interchange (‘WMI’). 1.1.2 The Site covers an area of approximately 260 hectares (ha) and falls within the administrative boundary of South Staffordshire Council (‘SSC’). The application redline boundary for the purposes of scoping the Environmental Impact Assessment (‘EIA’) is shown in Figure 1, with Figure 2 showing the Site’s location in the wider context. 1.1.3 The Proposed Development comprises the demolition of existing structures and the construction of an intermodal SRFI and associated rail freight warehousing, ancillary buildings and infrastructure. 1.1.4 Ramboll Environ UK Ltd (Ramboll Environ) have been commissioned by the Applicant to undertake an Environmental Impact Assessment (‘EIA’) for the Proposed Development, in accordance with the requirements of the Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2009 (as amended) (‘EIA Regulations’) and relevant EIA guidance, including the National Networks National Policy Statement (2014)1. 1 Department for Transport. National Policy Statement for National Networks. December 2014. Formal EIA Scoping Opinion Request 2 West Midlands Interchange Figure 1: Scoping Redline Boundary Formal EIA Scoping Opinion Request 3 West Midlands Interchange Figure 2: Site Location and Regional Context Formal EIA Scoping Opinion Request 4 West Midlands Interchange 1.2 Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects and Need for an Environmental Impact Assessment 1.2.1 The Proposed Development, as a rail freight interchange, constitutes a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (‘NSIP’) under Sections 14(1)(l) and 26 of the Planning Act 2008. 1.2.2 The Planning Act 2008 defines what projects constitute Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (‘NSIP’). Under Section 14(1)(l) of the Act an NSIP includes a ‘rail freight interchange’. Section 26 of the Act requires that the land on which the proposed ‘rail freight interchange’ will be situated must be in England and must be at least 60 hectares in area. In addition, the rail freight interchange must: • be capable of handling consignments of goods from more than one consignor and to more than one consignee; • be capable of handling at least 4 trains per day; • be part of the rail network in England; • include warehouses to which goods can be delivered from the railway network in England either directly or by means of another form of transport. 1.2.3 The Proposed Development fulfils all the requirements set out above and, accordingly, is a NSIP. 1.2.4 Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a process that identifies the likely significant environmental impacts (both beneficial and adverse) of a proposed development and aims to prevent, reduce and offset any potential significant adverse environmental effects. EIA is required for certain developments under the EIA Regulations. Some NSIPs always require EIA (defined by the EIA Regulations under Schedule 1), others only require EIA if they are likely to have significant effects on the environment by virtue of their nature, size or location (defined by the EIA Regulations under Schedule 2). 1.2.5 In this instance, the Applicant is undertaking an EIA (in accordance with the EIA Regulations) under paragraph 10 of Schedule 2 because of the characteristics, location and potential impact of the Proposed Development, to ensure that any potentially significant effects of the development on the environment are considered and where appropriate, mitigated. Therefore, in accordance with Regulation 6(1) of the EIA Regulations, the Applicant has notified the Secretary of State, by the letter addressed to the Secretary of State that accompanies this request for a Scoping Opinion that it intends to undertake an EIA as part of the DCO application for the Proposed Development. In accordance with Regulation 4(2)(a) of the EIA Regulations, the Proposed Development will be determined as EIA development and will comply with the requirements of the EIA process set out in the EIA Regulations. 1.2.6 The findings of the assessment will be presented in a single document called an Environmental Statement (‘ES’). The ES will be a clear and concise assessment of the environmental impacts associated with demolition, construction, operation and decommissioning of the Proposed Development – including direct, indirect, secondary and cumulative short, medium and long term, permanent, temporary, beneficial and adverse effects. Formal EIA Scoping Opinion Request 5 West Midlands Interchange 1.2.7 The purpose of the ES is to inform the SoS, statutory consultees, non-statutory consultees and the public about the Proposed Development, allowing consultees and the public to provide feedback, and enabling PINS and the SoS to take into account all relevant environmental information when making a determination of the Application. 1.2.8 The EIA Regulations specify the scope of information to be included in the ES and the involvement of environmental regulatory bodies in the process. In addition to the consultation with regulatory bodies, the participation of non-statutory organisations is also important. 1.3 Request for a Scoping Opinion 1.3.1 This document comprises a request by the Applicant for the SoS to adopt a Scoping Opinion to confirm the information to be provided within the ES. This request is made pursuant to, and in accordance with, Regulation 8 of the EIA Regulations and relevant Planning Inspectorate Advice Notes. 1.4 Purpose of the EIA Scoping Report 1.4.1 The purpose of this EIA Scoping Report (the ‘Report’) is to seek to agree with the SoS the proposed scope and approach to be adopted for the EIA, and to facilitate wider consultation with statutory consultees and key stakeholders likely to have an interest in the Proposed Development. 1.4.2 In line with PINS guidance, this Report includes the following: • a plan sufficient to identify the land i.e. the Site; • a brief description of the nature and purpose of the Proposed Development and of its possible effects on the environment (topic-by-topic); • an outline of the main reasons why the Site was chosen and some information on the evolution of the design (alternatives that were considered and the reasons for selecting a preferred option will be addressed within the EIA, as the scheme has not yet been fixed); • results of desktop and baseline studies