Agenda Item No 5 Main Case
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AGENDA ITEM NO 5 MAIN CASE Proposal: Construction of the A142 Southern Bypass, linking Angel Drove with Stuntney Causeway: construction of 1.7km long single carriageway road between two roundabouts, including crossing of the Ely to Cambridge railway line and River Great Ouse. Associated works to include earthworks, planting, drainage, minor road structures, lighting, signage, pedestrian and cycle provision and temporary construction compound, these are inclusive of works to the bypassed A142 Location: Ely Southern Bypass Site, Angel Drove, Ely, Cambridgeshire Applicant: Cambridgeshire County Council Agent: Reference No: 13/03005/CCA Case Officer: Scott Jackson Parish: Ely Ward: Ely East Ward Councillor/s: Councillor Richard Hobbs Councillor Lis Every Date Received: 24th September 2013 Expiry Date: 31st October 2013 [N207] 1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.1. This application has been submitted by Cambridgeshire County Council for the construction of the Ely Southern Bypass, linking Angel Drove with Stuntney Causeway. This involves the creation of two roundabouts (one created at each end of the bypass respectively) and two bridges to cross the railway line and the River Great Ouse. The proposed southern bypass will occupy a total distance of 1.7km (1 mile) and will include associated planting, drainage, lighting, signage, pedestrian and cycle routes and earthworks. 1.2. This application is being referred to the Planning Committee as it relates to a strategic highway project of significance to the district of East Cambridgeshire. East Cambridgeshire is a statutory consultee in the planning process, and not the decision making authority in this case. Agenda Item 5 – page 1 1.3 The proposed A142 Southern Bypass is supported in planning policy terms, it is referred to as a Core Policy project in the East Cambridgeshire Core Strategy 2009 (at policies CS7 and CS9) and in the East Cambridgeshire Draft Local Plan 2013. The recommendation is therefore to SUPPORT the planning application in principle. 1.4 A site visit has been arranged for 10.05 prior to the Committee meeting. 2.0 THE APPLICATION 2.1 This application has been submitted by Cambridgeshire County Council for the construction of the Ely Southern Bypass, linking Angel Drove with Stuntney Causeway. This involves the creation of two roundabouts (one created at each end of the bypass respectively) and two bridges to cross the railway line and the River Great Ouse. The proposed southern bypass will occupy a total distance of 1.7km (1 mile) and will include associated planting, drainage, lighting, signage, pedestrian and cycle routes and earthworks. 2.2 The proposed route is a 1.7km, 7.3m single carriageway road with 1m hard strips running from the A142 Angel Drove to the A142 Stuntney Causeway. The road heads east on a low embankment from the proposed Angel Drove roundabout, rising to cross over both the Cambridge to Ely and Soham Branch railway lines. It then sweeps north east, passing over arable land and the River Great Ouse, flood plain and flood banks, before continuing on a low embankment to a new roundabout on Stuntney Causeway. The existing A142 underpass under the railway line will be retained, but the carriageway will be narrowed to permit only single-way operation under traffic signals. 2.3 The river bridge, is a continuous structure with an overall length of approximately 300m extending westwards on a constant gradient and curved layout from the lower east end abutment to pass over respectively: a farm access track, the eastern flood bank along which passes National Cycle Route 11, the River Great Ouse and its associated flood plain on either side, the western flood bank and footpath, before finally passing over an access track and field ditch to land at the higher western abutment. A 2.5m wide walkway structure is supported off the northern side of the bridge and includes an extended viewing platform adjacent to and supported from the west river pier. The walkway joins the bridge structure directly from the eastern flood bank departing in the vicinity of the west flood bank pier to rejoin the path on the western flood bank via a gently graded footway link. 2.4 The rail crossing, consists of a two span bridge of the type described as a “Half Through Girder”, such form being typical to the railway environment whilst enabling the road level above to be kept as low as reasonably practical. The bridge traverses the electrified Cambridge to Ely railway line below the western span and the Soham Branch line under the eastern span. The overall length of the bridge deck is in the order of 104m consisting of two equal spans about a central support. The overall bridge width is in the order of Agenda Item 5 – page 2 16.5m with the overall depth of the edge beams being no greater than 3.1m, including anti-access features to prevent unauthorised access to the railway. 3.0 THE APPLICANT’S CASE 3.1 The Applicant’s case is set out in the Design and Access Statement, Planning Statement, and Transport Statement which can be viewed online via East Cambridgeshire District Council’s Public Access online service, via the following link: http://pa.eastcambs.gov.uk/online-applications Alternatively a paper copy is available to view at the East Cambridgeshire District Council offices, in the application file. 3.2 In addition to the documents stated in the paragraph above, the applicant’s case is also set out in the Environmental Statement (of which a non-technical summary is available), a Flood Risk Assessment, Statement of Community Involvement and Sustainability Appraisal, these documents can also be accessed via the link above. 4.0 THE SITE AND ITS ENVIRONMENT 4.1 The Scheme is located on the south east side of the city of Ely, within an area bounded by Harlock Farm, south-east of Stuntney; the A142 junction with the A10 at Witchford Road to the west; Braham Farm to the south and the area bounded by Witchford Road, Cambridge Road, Barton Road, Back Hill, Broad Street, Victoria Street and the River Great Ouse to the north. 4.2 The existing A142 runs in a generally south east to north west direction across the predominantly flat fenland landscape typical of this area. The Scheme is centred on the valley of the river Great Ouse which bisects the area in a generally south west to north east direction. The land either side of the river is generally flat floodplain, with flood protection bunds approximately 5m high running between 20m and 150m from either bank of the river. The area to the south east of the river rises gently to a height of around 10m around Stuntney, whilst the area to the north east is generally flat. To the west of the river, the land on which the city of Ely is built rises up from the Great Ouse to a height of around 25m. 5.0 PLANNING HISTORY 5.1 None relevant 6.0 REPLIES TO CONSULTATIONS 6.1 Responses received from internal consultees: Agenda Item 5 – page 3 6.2 Conservation Officer- Lack of information in respect of mitigation measures to built heritage in particular. No reference to the fact that Ely Cathedral is also a Scheduled Ancient Monument and not just a listed building. A lot of work has been undertaken on trying to limit the visual impact and height of the proposed bypass and bridges and it appears that this option seems to limit the visual impact as far as practicable. However it is undeniable that the introduction of such a large engineering feature will have an adverse impact on the setting on Ely as a Cathedral City, particularly when viewed from the south. There are valid arguments on both sides for and against the bypass, ultimately it will come down to the issue of harm. At this point the applicant has not shown how the harm caused to the setting of Ely Cathedral meets the criteria set out in the National Planning Policy Framework. More work is required to show clear understanding how the public benefits of the scheme would potentially outweigh the harm to heritage assets. 6.3 Trees Officer- It would be desirable for this Local Planning Authority to seek the services of a professional landscape consultant. The A142 Southern Bypass is likely to have a profound impact on the city of Ely’s landscape and on the wider surrounding landscape. The landscape impact assessment should ideally include a much wider area and consider the views from Stuntney, the south of Ely. In addition I suggest the connectivity between different landscape schemes over the life of the project. 6.4 Forward Planning Officer- There is wide variation across the documentation in support of the application as to the policies to be applied for this scheme. The failure to apply a consistent approach to consideration of planning policy has clear ramifications for the assumptions and methodology applied for the preparation of the application documents and for the Environmental Statement. It is essential to have regard to the Local Transport Plan and all relevant guidance in the National Planning Policy Framework. I would suggest that an assessment of the connectivity between different schemes in the vicinity of the application site would be of benefit to the evaluation of indirect, direct, secondary and cumulative impacts. 6.5 Responses received from Other Consultees (direct to Cambridgeshire County Council) 6.6 Ely Society- There is some reluctance to accept the need for the bypass as proposed here. Support the use of quieter road surfacing and the viewing platform which offers a new elevated view of the city skyline. The colour of the bridge will allow it to blend into the background.