Limerick County Council An Bord Pleanála Inspector’s Report Board Reference: 13.HA0028 / 04.KA0016 Scheme: N21 Adare Bypass Applicant: Limerick County Council Inspector: Daniel O’Connor _____________________________________________________________________ PL13.HA0028 An Bord Pleanála Page 1 of 172 Limerick County Council CONTENTS 1.0 Introduction Page 03 2.0 Compulsory Purchase Order Page 04 3.0 Impacts Identified Page 05 4.0 Report on Oral Hearing Page 08 5.0 Assessment Page 115 6.0 Recommendation Road Development Page 120 7.0 Recommendation CPO Page 120 Appendices Appendix I List of objectors Page 121 Appendix II Items Submitted Page 122 Appendix III EIS Page 123 _____________________________________________________________________ PL13.HA0028 An Bord Pleanála Page 2 of 172 Limerick County Council 1.0 INTRODUCTION AND SCHEME DESCRIPTION 1.1 The proposal is for the construction of approximately 8.5 kilometres. of Type 2 Dual Carriageway Road constituting the Adare Bypass from a new roundabout at Garraunboy on the existing N21 to a new grade-separated junction with the proposed M20 Motorway at Fanningstown and crossing the River Maigue, the Dunaman, Greanagh and an unnamed tributary of the Maigue as well as the R519 Ballingarry Road. 1.2 Limerick County Council applied to An Bord Pleanála by letter of 3 rd March 2010 for approval for the proposed N21 Adare Bypass. The application is being dealt with under Section 51 of the Roads Act 1993 (as amended by Section 9(1) (e) of the Roads Act 2007) 1.3 Three c opies of the Environmental Impact Statement including CD copies were submitted with the application. 1.4 Supporting documentation including managers order RD/583/10, copies of notices to prescribed bodies and a certificate of compliance from Mr Gerry Sheeran, Senior Planner, Limerick County Council. 1.5 A copy of the Irish Examiner of 4 th March 2010 with the advertisement of both the EIS and the CPO was also included with the application. _____________________________________________________________________ PL13.HA0028 An Bord Pleanála Page 3 of 172 Limerick County Council 2.0 COMPULSORY PURCHASE ORDER 2.1 The Compulsory Purchase Order was made by Limerick County Council on the 26 th February, 2010 and is entitled “Limerick County Council (N21 Adare Bypass) Compulsory Purchase Order 2010” 2.2 The owners or reputed owners, lessees or reputed lessees and the occupiers of the land are set out in Schedule, Part I 2.3 The description of the public rights-of-way proposed to be extinguished is set out in Schedule Part II 2.4 Limerick County Council applied to An Bord Pleanála for confirmation of the Compulsory Purchase Order by letter dated 2010 and enclosed supporting documentation. 2.5 The (permanent) land take which is subject of the CPO is 68 hectares as indicated at the oral hearing (day 2, transcript, page 87) _____________________________________________________________________ PL13.HA0028 An Bord Pleanála Page 4 of 172 Limerick County Council 3.0 IMPACTS IDENTIFIED The Non-Technical Summary (NTS) of the EIS states that the requirement for a bypass of Adare was specifically described in the 1998 National Roads Needs Study. It states the main objective of the proposed road development is the removal of a bottleneck on the existing N21. As the proposal is for a four-lane road, an EIS was prepared in accordance with legislation. The NTS describes the road as being 8.5 kilometres in length and this is shown in Fig 1.1 of the Summary. Describing the background to the scheme, the NTS states the existing road is of a low standard in terms of carriageway width and alignment and that it carries approximately 16,100 vehicles per day with a significant proportion being HGV’s. The high number of road junctions and private accesses give rise to concerns regarding road safety. The NTS describes the scheme and notes it is a Type 2 dual carriageway with verges of 3 metres, hard strips of 0.5 metres, a central reserve of 1.5 metres and two 7.0 metres carriageways. It states the scheme starts from an improved section on the Croagh-Adare portion of the N21 and first crosses the R519 Ballingarry Road, then the river Maigue before connecting with the proposed M20 north of Croom at Fanningstown. The NTS notes that four options were considered in a Route Corridor Selection Report of 2009. It states the proposed development was found to best satisfy the scheme objectives. Section 5 of the NTS refers to impacts on Human Beings and Agronomy. It describes the impacts during construction but states once the proposed road opened, there would be less than half the traffic than currently using the N21 through Adare and that local positive impacts and associated enhanced long-term growth prospects would likely outweigh the initial fall in business to some operators, such as B&B’s and petrol stations. In relation to agronomy it states that some 25 agricultural holdings are impacted and would lose 52 hectares of a total of 886 hectares or 5.9% of the total area. It states that the benefits from the reduction in traffic congestion would outweigh the moderate adverse effects on agricultural holdings. Section 6 refers to Ecology , both terrestrial and aquatic. It states that there are no designated conservations within 250 metres of the route. The Adare Woodlands pNHA is between 250 and 500 m to the north and the Curraghchase Woods cSAC is 4.5 kilometres to the north. It states that there are several species of bat in the vicinity of the route with badger and otter activity also noted. A wide variety of bird species, typical of the habitats _____________________________________________________________________ PL13.HA0028 An Bord Pleanála Page 5 of 172 Limerick County Council were observed. It predicts minor to moderate impacts during construction with permanent loss of habitats which would impact on the ability of the mammals to move about the locality. It states that during the operational phase, the proposed road development would be expected to have a minor negative impact overall. With regard to aquatic ecology it is noted that the route is in hydrometric area 24 (Shannon Estuary South Hydrometric Area). It notes that EPA water quality monitoring indicates the watercourses are moderately polluted. It states the watercourses support salmonids, trout and white-clawed crayfish. Potential contamination in the construction phase is from suspended solids which the EIS states would be subject to mitigation. It states that impacts in the operational phase would be mainly concerned with water run-off from the road. It states that this would be controlled by the use of a sealed drainage system with surface water outfalls to retention and treatment systems before discharge to surface water bodies. It states that in the absence of significant pollution events such as accidents involving spillages, the impact on the river system as a whole would not be significant. (Noted that at the oral hearing the provision of a hydrocarbon interceptor was added to the outfall proposals) Section 7 deals with Geology, Hydrology and Hydrogeology. It states that the road would be underlain by glacial till with localised outcrops of limestone and that no features of geological interest would be affected. It notes that physic-chemical assessments were carried out at eleven locations on the Maigue, Dunaman, Greanagh and a tributary of the Maigue. It states that there would be a potentially high risk to the river Maigue but that good practice design and construction guidelines should reduce the likelihood of impacts occurring. It notes that as the watercourses are currently classed as Moderate Ecological Status under the WFD, there is a very low risk that the proposed road development would cause deterioration in status of any watercourse. Regarding Hydrogeology, it notes that a number of cuttings on the route would reduce soil cover in areas of limestone bedrock and that rock excavation could locally lower the water table with potential to impact a small number of individual water supplies. It predicts that concentrations of pollutants will remain well within air quality standards and there would be an imperceptible impact on climate. Section 8 covers Noise and Vibration. It states that the short term and long term impacts must be considered. It states that subject to good working practice, construction impacts would be kept to a minimum. In relation to the operational phase, it states that mitigation measures are sometimes required but in this instance, mitigation specifically for noise is not required. _____________________________________________________________________ PL13.HA0028 An Bord Pleanála Page 6 of 172 Limerick County Council Section 9 refers to Landscape and Visual impacts and describes the route as passing through a rural lowland agricultural landscape. It states there would be no impacts on the landscape policies contained in the Adare Local Area Plan 2009. Adare Manor is located north of the route. Fanningstown Castle is stated to be significantly affected by the proposed works and new planting is proposed to help integrate the road. It states that 67 properties would experience negative visual effects with 14 properties having profound visual impacts. It states that over time the severity would lessen but 7 properties are predicted to possibly continue have significant negative effects. Section 10 deals with Cultural Heritage. In relation to archaeological heritage it states that 35 of 44 identified sites could have potential impacts during construction with 5 sites potentially having impact during operation. Mitigation works would be completed in advance of construction. Regarding Architectural heritage it notes four sites were identified in the study corridor with six more outside the corridor also identified. It notes construction impacts would be predicted for eight of the ten architectural sites. Negative impacts are predicted for the setting of Granard House.