Meeting Report

Regarding: Date: EDF Energy Hinkley Point C: Transport 3 May 2018 Forum

Participating: Jim Claydon Chair Andrew Wagstaff EDF Energy James Brereton Parish Council David Eccles EDF Energy Sue Goss West Council Rachel Lister EDF Energy Rob Morgan Cannington Parish Council Lucy Holt EDF Energy Allan Beasley Cannington Parish Council John Bower EDF Energy Judith Fletcher Parish Council Isaac Casson Newgate Sam Harper Parish Council Scott Harker Newgate Anne Reed Parish Council Alan Hurford Town Council Apologies: Adrian Moore Bridgwater Town Council Peter Downing Sedgemoor District Council Liz Leyshon Stephen Leahy Bridgwater Chamber Stewart Cameron Hanson Rosemary Woods West Somerset Council Andy Coupé Somerset County Council John Richards Watchet Chamber of Commerce Garry Alford Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Leigh Redman Somerset County Council Ryan Clarke Avon & Somerset Police John Sivyer Parish Meeting Geraint Jones Horizon Nuclear Power Gary Perrett Doug Bamsey Sedgemoor District Council Anne Fraser Sedgemoor District Council John Vassalli Parish Council Julie Evans Otterhampton Parish Council Ann Bown Sedgemoor District Council Richard Cuttell W.H.A.G.

EDF Energy Team: Item Action 1. Introductions, Minutes and Matters Arising 1.1 Jim Claydon (JC) welcomed everyone and asked attendees to introduce themselves.

1.2 The minutes of the meeting held on 1 February 2018 was approved by attendees. James Brereton (JB) noted that under any other business of the previous meeting, a discussion was held about the venue of the Transport Forum. EDF Energy took feedback from

members on this matter.

1.3 It was also noted that rather than calling an extraordinary meeting to discuss the

improvement works at Bristol Road/Wylds Road, the matter will now be discussed at the next Transport Forum currently scheduled for 2 August 2018.

1.4 Alan Hurford (AH) raised the relationship between the Transport Review Group (TRG) and Transport Forum. The Chair reminded members that this was discussed at the previous meeting, and that the TRG is a decision making body, whereas the Transport Forum is a consultative body

Item Action

1.5 Julie Evans (JE) thanked EDF Energy for the addendum on transport matters from the previous Transport Forum. She noted that there are still issues around safety and repeated a call to reduce the speed limit around Otterhampton.

2. Project Progress 2.1 A film was shown outlining recent activity from the Hinkley Point C (HPC) project. David Eccles (DE) provided an update on site and on the associated developments:

 The pre-stressing gallery is now being constructed for unit one’s Nuclear Island;  The foundation of the sea wall is also currently under construction;  Seven kilometres of tunnels are being constructed under the site to hold all of the pipework and electrical cabling for the facility;

 The second of the welfare buildings on site has now been opened;

 This is the busiest time of the year for EDF Energy’s Inspire Education Programme;  A focus of the project going forward will be on developing the supply chain with particular attention paid to mechanical, electrical and heating ventilation functions;

2.2 Ann Bown (AB) stated that it was essential that all secondary schools in Bridgwater were visited as part of the Inspire Programme. DE said that all schools in Bridgwater would be visited, and 140,000 young people in total had been engaged by the programme. AB asked DE to let her know when the team would be visiting Haygrove School and School. Afternote: Tom Thayer from the HPC Inspire team has contacted AB on this matter.

2.3 Anne Fraser (AF) asked whether the Inspire Programme was encouraging girls to take up careers in engineering. DE replied that a focus of the programme was getting more girls in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) roles. Lucy Holt (LH) said that historic levels of participation in construction projects by women were around 10%, the HPC apprentice scheme is seeing female participation levels of up to 25%.

3. Brief Summary of Workshop Discussions 3.1 Jim Claydon (JC) provided a brief summary of the presentation made by Andy Coupé (AC) and Steve Gooding about the proposed improvements to the Quantock Road Roundabout.

3.2 Alan Hurford (AH) asked when members of the Transport Forum would see developed plans for Quantock Roundabout. AC said that he would like to mature the plans further in light of feedback and would report back at the next transport forum.

4. Updated Information on Transport Matters 4.1 Rachel Lister (RL) presented a summary of figures from Transport Review Group Quarterly Report 2018 Q1 on the Construction Workforce Travel Plan (CWTP).

4.2 AF queried the exact definition of the construction workforce that featured in the presentation. Afternote: The number of people working on-site at any point in time is monitored through analysing the site Access Control Passes (ACP). To ensure that we account for extreme fluctuations in worker numbers on site, on any one day, we use a five day working rule to calculate the workforce. This is done by only counting those workers whose ACP identifies they have spent 5 or more full days on site in one month. This

Item Action more accurately estimates a stable site population over a working month. This is the standard that was adopted on the Olympics and has been carried across to most other major projects in the UK when reporting to Government (such as CrossRail and HS2).

4.3 AB asked whether it would be possible for workers to leave their vehicles at the park and ride facilities for a week while they work. The rise in houses in multiple occupancy has led to a strain on local parking spaces in and around people’s homes. RL replied that EDF Energy’s assumption was that Bridgwater based workers would walk from their homes to catch a bus to the site.

4.4 Sue Goss (SG) asked that now the J23 and J24 park and rides were operational why buses were still being stacked in laybys along the C182. Andrew Wagstaff (AW) said that this was continuing because of a lack of space on site while work on the bus holding point (K19) was being concluded, this is likely to end soon. The J23/24 park and rides do not affect the use of laybys although the J23 park and ride will soon be a marshalling area for buses once the appropriate licenses have been transferred.

4.5 Judith Fletcher (JF) thanked EDF Energy for resolving the problem of the buses stopping in the layby opposite Puriton Village Hall at 5:00am, and asked when K19 would be finished. AW replied that he was unsure exactly when but it was progressing.

4.6 John Bower (JB) delivered a presentation on a summary of the HGV movements from the Transport Review Group Quarterly Report 2018 Q1 on the Construction Traffic Management Plan. Particular attention was paid to the fact that the cap on movements was rarely exceeded and this was due to an error made while an IT upgrade was being carried out. Action was taken against the driver of a vehicle for leaving the site after the permitted time. Members discussed the nature of the cap and the importance of action against minor breaches of the DCO conditions.

4.7 SG asked why escort vehicles that were not on duty were still using their flashing lights. This would reduce their impact while on duty. JB stated that this is against the rules, and encouraged members to report instances via the usual method, with a vehicle registration number.

4.8 Richard Cuttell (RC) asked whether abnormal load vehicles were allowed to be released and then followed by a large number of HGVs and buses. JB said that the team sticks to two minute intervals as a guide when releasing vehicles. RC said that he should not be observing six Hanson lorries following an abnormal load from the HPC site. JB asked RC to provide details and he would look in to this.

4.9 RL delivered a further presentation to members on a summary of the proposals for the HPC Travel Plan and Park and Ride sites for 2018 and 2019 explaining the estimated movements of the workforce to and from the site. This included proposals to discuss with the Transport Review Group increasing use of J23 P&R and continuing to use Quantock Lakes Park and Ride.

4.10 AF asked whether the figure of 3000 workers was the maximum on site at any given time. DE and RL said that there were currently 3176 full time workers on site in a full day plus around 200 other workers and visitors. Andrew Wagstaff (AW) explained that from the point of view of the bus service, the figure was effectively a total of those employed and not all would be working at the same time due to shift patterns.

4.11 AB asked how car sharing helps transport workers on to site when all workers are allocated a park and ride facility anyway, does this not lead to fly parking? RL said that

Item Action EDF Energy were developing their own car sharing scheme to travel to and from the park and rides, and that any fly parking would be picked up by the fly parking team.

4.12 AB asked if the numbers of those using the park and rides comply with the DCO and how long the Quantock Lakes Park and Ride would remain operational. RL replied stating that the parking figures comply with the DCO and that data will be used to inform any decision on how much longer the Quantock Lakes site remains operational. AB also noted disappointment at the lack of HPC workers making use of rail services in their commute.

4.13 Julie Evans (JE) asked whether non-homebased workers would be living in campuses or HMOs, and if there could be a cap in the number of HMOs licensed in the area. DE said that the campuses would be operational shortly and that HMOs were a planning matter to be decided on a case-by-case basis. Sam Harper (SH) said that the law allows for up to six people to live in a HMO without planning consent, this means that there is a lack of control over the cumulative number of such properties.

4.14 Sue Goss (SG) asked whether a bus route would remain along the C182 if Quantock Lakes Park and Ride were to continue being used. RL confirmed that it would.

4.15 Alan Hurford (AH) asked whether there would be an increase in the number of buses in use or would EDF Energy be looking to fill existing capacity. AW replied saying that the number of buses used would be within the number of buses proposed in the Transport Assessment.

4.16 Lucy Holt (LH) gave an update on progress in construction. The next transport forum will include an update on the Bristol Road/Wylds Road scheme. AH asked whether there would be work on multiple road schemes at once, LH and AC confirmed that this would not be happening.

5. Subjects for Next Meeting 5.1 The subject for the next workshop will focus on the Bristol Road/Wylds Road works.

6. Any other business 6.1 The Forum returned to the matter of a future meeting place. James Brereton (JB) suggested that a venue in Cannington might be appropriate for a future meeting of the Transport Forum. SG suggested Wembdon as a venue on an alternating basis. DE agreed that the forum should not focus on a single place and the forum agreed to explore holding a meeting at a venue in Wembdon. Isaac Casson (IC) will explore the availability of these venues and report back.

6.2 An email was read out from Gary Perrett (GP) who was unable to attend the forum. He wished to express concern about the quality of road verges on the C182 and the impact that this could have upon cyclists using the route. AC said that Somerset County Council was also concerned about the impact on the road surface and will seek to remedy key areas of verge overrun.

6.3 Allan Beasley (AB) shared some suggestions on behalf of Cannington Parish Council regarding safety on the C182 following a recent fatality. There were three points: 1. Increase in the speed limit of buses to 50mph along certain sections in order to discourage overtaking; 2. Consider a speed limit of 40mph along the entire route; 3. Could cyclists use an alternative route on the C182 beyond ? Afternote: A number of alternatives to cycling on the C182 were previously reviewed and a cycle route between Bridgwater and Combwich has now opened. The preferred

Item Action option between Combwich and Hinkley Point involved third party land which is currently unavailable. If the land becomes available in the near future then this option would be reconsidered.

At HPC, cyclists are encouraged to cycle to their nearest Park and Ride site rather than direct to HPC.

7. Date of the Next Meeting 7.1 The date of the next Forum is Thursday 2 August 2018 at Puriton Village Hall. The venue is subject to change following a review of options.