Heathrow Airport Limited Heathrow’s North-West Runway Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment 16 June 2014 AMEC Environment & Infrastructure UK Limited 8 Copyright and Non-Disclosure Notice The contents and layout of this report are subject to copyright owned by AMEC (©AMEC Environment & Infrastructure UK Limited 2014). save to the extent that copyright has been legally assigned by us to another party or is used by AMEC under licence. To the extent that we own the copyright in this report, it may not be copied or used without our prior written agreement for any purpose other than the purpose indicated in this report. The methodology (if any) contained in this report is provided to you in confidence and must not be disclosed or copied to third parties without the prior written agreement of AMEC. Disclosure of that information may constitute an actionable breach of confidence or may otherwise prejudice our commercial interests. Any third party who obtains access to this report by any means will, in any event, be subject to the Third Party Disclaimer set out below. Third-Party Disclaimer Any disclosure of this report to a third party is subject to this disclaimer. The report was prepared by AMEC at the instruction of, and for use by, our client named on the front of the report. It does not in any way constitute advice to any third party who is able to access it by any means. AMEC excludes to the fullest extent lawfully permitted all liability whatsoever for any loss or damage howsoever arising from reliance on the contents of this report. We do not however exclude our liability (if any) for personal injury or death resulting from our negligence, for fraud or any other matter in relation to which we cannot legally exclude liability. i Non-Technical Summary This Landscape and visual Impact Assessment has been prepared by AMEC Environment & Infrastructure on behalf of Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL). The report provides technical information and assessments to support Part 5 (Enhancing the Natural Environment) of Volume 1 of the Technical Submission to the Airports Commission1. The assessment relates to Landscape Assessment and Mitigation, with consideration being given to a strategic landscape and visual impact assessment (LVIA) to underpin the analysis. The Existing landscape The study area encompasses a landform that is mainly low-lying, including the Colne Valley and the outskirts of west London. The original 19th century pastoral and horticultural land uses of the area have been largely lost due to the introduction of transport and power infrastructure, housing, industrial development and above-ground reservoirs and sand and gravel extraction. Tree cover is associated with flooded gravel pits, the River Thames, the River Colne and parkland landscapes to the west. To the north-west of the study area, beyond Slough, land-use is more rural in character with orchards, parkland and woodland. Heathrow is surrounded by large scale airport infrastructure including hotels, offices and multi-storey car parks. Extensive residential development is present to the east and south. Smaller settlements north of Heathrow include Longford, Harmondsworth, Harlington and Cranford: these comprise largely 20th century housing, built around older historic cores. There are a number of gardens on English Heritage’s register of historic parks and gardens including Langley Park, The Royal Estate parks at Windsor, Ditton Park, Langley Park, Osterley Park and Great Fosters and conservation areas within the study area. The area is crossed by several major roads including the M25, M4, A4 and A30. These are a source of constant noise from vehicle traffic, which lowers the tranquillity of the area and fragments the pattern of the landscape. The buildings proposed as part of the third runway proposals would be located within and outside the existing airport boundary: the Zone of Visual Influence (ZVI) shows that the potential visibility of development is contained to a relatively small area due to the screening effect of the existing airport infrastructure, tree cover, urban development, raised reservoirs and motorways surrounding Heathrow. The airport infrastructure is currently visible from villages close to the airport boundary including Harmondsworth, Sipson and Harlington to the north, Poyle to the west, Stanwell and Stanwell Moor to the south and the residential areas of Hounslow and Spelthorne adjacent to the airport boundary to the south and east. There are longer views of the airport from higher ground, but from these locations the airport is seen in the context of the densely developed Thames Valley, with large-scale buildings including hotels, offices and light industry also visible. 1 Heathrow Airport Limited (2014) Taking Britain further – Heathrow’s plan for connection the UK to growth © AMEC Environment & Infrastructure UK Limited Heathrow’s North-West Runway - Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment ii Potential Impacts The Airports Commission’s objective is, ‘to minimise impacts on existing landscape character and heritage assets.’ The potential impacts on landscape and visual amenity are set out below, followed by a discussion of mitigation measures and how these aim to achieve the Commission’s objective: Potential Impacts: • Large scale development in the green belt: this would be contrary to current planning policies to contain development and preserve the open characteristics of the green belt; • Changes to existing water courses and the flood plain: these would be contrary to the aims and objectives set out in the London Plan in relation to the Blue Ribbon network policy and the objectives in the All London Green Grid policy; • Large scale development in the Colne Valley Regional Park; this would result in a narrowing of the park, loss of part of Harmondsworth Moor, re-routing of the Colne Valley Trail, other public rights of way, and the River Colne as well as significant changes to the existing landscape character through the introduction of large scale built elements in areas of green open space; • Changes in levels of tranquillity in conservation areas and other public open spaces; these could be adverse or beneficial depending on the options taken forward; • Changes in landscape character through the introduction of new infrastructure such as the re-routing of the A4 and the M25; • The loss of Longford village and areas of Harmondsworth; this would change the landscape character of the area; and • Changes to the landscape character of Harmondsworth and Sipson (currently discrete settlements set in a relatively open landscape), due to the introduction of airport infrastructure close to the villages. Mitigation Measures Mitigation measures put forward as part of the mitigation strategy include the opportunity to address the objectives outlined in the All London Green Grid (ALGG) strategy for the Colne Valley Regional Park through: reducing the current fragmented landscape character of the area; the creation of a continuous network of public open spaces; the improvement and creation of new footpath/ cycle routes; and the reduction of severance created by major infrastructure such as the M25, M4, A40, A30, railway and canal. Other mitigations include: • The creation of new woodland settings for the villages directly affected through land take; the definition of the ‘edge’ of the Colne Valley Regional Park and Heathrow Airport through appropriate planting; and the addressing of the current fragmented landscape character of the area; © AMEC Environment & Infrastructure UK Limited Heathrow’s North-West Runway - Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment iii • Strengthening and integrating pedestrian and cycling connectivity both along, and especially between, the river corridors, settlements, public transport nodes, strategic transport routes and key walking/ cycling routes. The setting for the more localised links, for the Colne Valley Trail for example, could be improved from Colnbrook/ Poyle to Staines Moor and beyond, taking the route away from the A4 and creating a link over/ under the M25; • New landscapes created; for example as part of the new rivers proposed and flood storage areas, where there will be a benefit for ecology and informal leisure; and • New sports and leisure opportunities created as part of the new park, and in other areas surrounding the airport, with connectivity to local communities. © AMEC Environment & Infrastructure UK Limited Heathrow’s North-West Runway - Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment i Abbreviations ALGG All London Green Grid CA Conservation Area CAA Civil Aviation Authority CAAs Conservation Area Assessment CPRE Council for the Protection of Rural England HAL Heathrow Airports Limited LVIA Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment NCA National Character Area NPPF National Planning Policy Framework RP&G Historic parks and gardens SAF Sustainability Appraisal Framework UDP Unitary Development Plan ZTV Zone of theoretical visibility © AMEC Environment & Infrastructure UK Limited Heathrow’s North-West Runway - Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment ii Contents 1. Introduction 1 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Airports Commission Requirements 1 2. Legislative and Policy Context 3 3. Baseline 4 3.1 Methodology for Baseline Data Collection 4 3.1.1 Landscape Resource 4 3.1.2 Visual Amenity 4 3.1.3 Zone of Theoretical Visibility 4 3.2 Results of Baseline Review 5 4. Mitigation Strategy 11 5. Assessment of Effects 21 6. Conclusions 24 Table 5.1 Effects and Mitigation 21 Appendix A Sensitive Areas Appendix B Conservation