Ministry of Defence (MoD), Metrix Ltd. and Sodexo Ltd. /Welsh Assembly Government Defence Technical College and Aerospace Business Park - St Athan Environmental Statement May 2009 Entec UK Limited Copyright and Non-Disclosure Notice The contents and layout of this report are subject to copyright owned by Entec (© Entec UK Limited 2009) save to the extent that copyright has been legally assigned by us to another party or is used by Entec 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 Entec. 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 Entec 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. Entec 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. Contents 1. Introduction 1-1 1.1 Overview of the Scheme 1-1 1.2 Purpose of the ES 1-3 1.3 The Developers and Project Team 1-5 1.4 Structure of the ES 1-8 2. Scheme Need and Alternatives 2-1 2.1 Need for the Scheme 2-1 2.1.1 Defence Technical College (DTC) 2-1 2.1.2 Aerospace Business Park (ABP) 2-1 2.2 Alternatives 2-2 2.2.1 Defence Technical College (DTC) 2-2 2.2.2 Aerospace Business Park (ABP) 2-5 2.2.3 Highway Works 2-6 2.2.4 Associated Llantwit Major Waste Water Treatment Works (WwTW) and New Rising Main Works 2-8 3. Scheme Description 3-1 3.1 Development Site Description 3-1 3.1.1 Site Location 3-1 3.1.2 Existing Operational Facilities 3-2 3.2 Proposed Scheme and Site Layout 3-2 3.2.1 Landscape Proposals 3-9 3.2.2 Sustainability Proposals 3-14 3.2.3 Environmental Management Plan (EMP) 3-15 3.3 Demolition and Construction Information 3-16 3.3.1 Construction Programme and Phasing 3-16 3.3.2 Overview of Construction Methods and Activities 3-22 3.3.3 Overview of Construction Assumptions 3-23 3.3.4 Overview of Construction Labour Workforce 3-24 3.3.5 Construction Management 3-25 © Entec UK Limited SA-C1XXX-XX-XXX-EN-X-0210 4. Approach to Preparing the ES 4-1 4.1 The EIA Process 4-1 4.2 EIA Terminology 4-2 4.3 Scoping and Scheme Evaluation 4.3 4.3.1 Scoping 4-3 4.3.2 Project Evolution 4-4 4.4 Consultation 4-4 4.4.1 EIA Consultation 4-5 4.5 Overview of Assessment Methodology 4-5 4.5.1 Introduction 4-5 4.5.2 Baseline for the Assessment 4-6 4.5.3 Approach to Significance Evaluation 4-7 5. Policy Overview 5-1 5.1 National Planning Policy Context 5-1 5.1.1 Wales Spatial Plan (WSP) 5-1 5.1.2 Planning Policy Wales 5-2 5.1.3 Technical Advice Notes 5-2 5.1.4 Welsh Assembly Government's Energy Policy for Wales 5-7 5.1.5 South East Wales Regional Transport Plan 5-7 5.2 Local Development Plan Context 5-8 5.2.1 The Vale of Glamorgan Unitary Development Plan (UDP) 5-8 5.2.2 The St Athan Development Brief 5-8 5.2.3 Supplementary Planning Guidance 5-9 5.2.4 The Emerging Development Plan 5-9 6. Biodiversity 6-1 6.1 Introduction 6-1 6.2 Policy and Legislative Context 6-1 6.2.1 Policy Context 6-1 6.2.2 Legislative Requirements 6-2 6.3 Approach to Data Gathering 6-3 6.3.1 Desk Study 6-3 6.3.2 Survey Work 6-4 6.4 Overall Biodiversity Baseline 6-6 6.4.1 Current Baseline 6-6 6.4.2 Predicted Future Baseline 6-9 © Entec UK Limited SA-C1XXX-XX-XXX-EN-X-0210 6.6 Scope of the Assessment 6-13 6.6.1 Potential Receptors 6-13 6.6.2 Potentially Significant Effects 6-14 6.7 Assessment Methodology 6-17 6.7.1 Methodology for Prediction of Effects 6-17 6.7.2 Significance Evaluation Methodology 6-17 6.8 Assessment of Effects: Designated Sites 6-18 6.8.1 Baseline Conditions 6-18 6.8.2 Predicted Effects and their Significance 6-21 6.9 Assessment of Effects: Hedgerows 6-23 6.9.1 Baseline Conditions 6-23 6.9.2 Predicted Effects and their Significance 6-24 6.10 Assessment of Effects: Dormouse 6-26 6.10.1 Baseline Conditions 6-26 6.10.2 Predicted Effects and Their Significance 6-27 6.11 Assessment of Effects: Otter 6-29 6.11.1 Baseline Conditions 6-29 6.11.2 Predicted Effects and their Significance 6-30 6.12 Assessment of Effects: Great Crested Newt 6-32 6.12.1 Baseline Conditions 6-32 6.12.2 Predicted Effects and their Significance 6-34 6.13 Assessment of Effects: Bats 6-39 6.13.1 Baseline Conditions 6-39 6.13.2 Predicted Effects and their Significance 6-41 6.14 Assessment of Effects: Badger 6-44 6.14.1 Baseline Conditions 6-44 6.14.2 Predicted Effects and their Significance 6-45 6.15 Assessment of Effects: Reptiles 6-46 6.15.1 Baseline Conditions 6-46 6.15.2 Predicted Effects and their Significance 6-46 6.16 Assessment of Effects: Breeding Birds 6-49 6.16.1 Baseline Conditions 6-49 6.16.2 Predicted Effects and their Significance 6-49 6.17 Assessment of Effects: Enhancement Measures 6-50 6.17.1 Baseline Conditions 6-50 6.17.2 Predicted Effects and their Significance 6-50 6.18 Conclusions of Significance Evaluation 6-52 6.18.1 Implementation of Environmental Measures 6-56 6.18.2 Relevant Terminology 6-57 6.18.3 References 6-57 © Entec UK Limited SA-C1XXX-XX-XXX-EN-X-0210 7. Landscape Assessment 7-1 7.1 Introduction 7-1 7.2 Policy Context 7-2 7.2.1 Policy Context 7-2 7.3 Data Gathering Methodology 7-5 7.4 Landscape Baseline Summary 7-6 7.4.1 Current Baseline 7-6 7.5 Environmental Measures Incorporated into the Scheme 7-9 7.6 Scope of the Assessment 7-13 7.6.1 Potential Receptors 7-13 7.7 Potential Receptors 7-13 7.7.1 Potentially Significant Effects 7-13 7.7.2 Effects Unlikely to be Significant 7-14 7.8 Assessment Methodology 7-16 7.8.1 Methodology for Prediction of Effects 7-16 7.8.2 Significance Evaluation Methodology 7-17 7.9 Assessment of Effects 7-18 7.9.1 Predicted Effects: Construction Phase 7-18 7.9.2 Predicted Effects and Their Significance During the Operational Period 7-31 7.9.3 Assessment of Effects on Landscape Elements 7-31 7.10 Conclusions of Significance Evaluation 7-41 7.11 Implementation of Environmental Measures 7-45 8. Visual Assessment 8-1 8.1 Introduction 8-2 8.2 Approach to Data Gathering 8-2 8.2.1 Consultation 8-3 8.3 Baseline Summary 8-3 8.3.1 Current Baseline 8-4 8.3.2 Future Baseline 8-5 8.4 Environmental Measures Incorporated into the Scheme 8-6 8.5 Scope of the Assessment 8-8 8.5.1 Potentially Significant Effects 8-8 8.5.2 Effects Which are Not Likely to be Significant 8-10 8.6 Methodology 8-15 8.7 Assessment of Visual Effects: Construction Phase 8-18 8.7.1 Public Rights of Way (PRoW) 8-18 © Entec UK Limited SA-C1XXX-XX-XXX-EN-X-0210 8.7.3 Individual Properties 8-25 8.7.4 Viewpoints 8-36 8.8 Assessment of Visual Effects: Operational Phase 8-39 8.8.1 Public Rights of Way (PRoW) 8-39 8.8.2 Settlements 8-42 8.8.3 Individual Properties 8-46 8.9 Assessment of Night Time Views 8-54 8.9.1 Settlements 8-55 8.9.2 Individual Residential Receptors 8-56 8.9.3 Viewpoints 8-61 8.10 Conclusions of Significance Evaluation 8-66 8.11 Implementation of Environmental Measures 8-76 9. Historic Environment 9-1 9.1 Introduction 9-1 9.2 Policy and Legislative Context 9-1 9.2.1 Policy Context 9-1 9.2.2 Legislative Requirements 9-3 9.3 Data Gathering Methodology 9-3 9.3.1 Desk Study 9-4 9.3.2 Survey Work 9-5 9.4 Overall Historic Environment Baseline 9-9 9.4.1 Current Baseline Model 9-9 9.4.2 Predicted Future Baseline 9-26 9.5 Environmental Measures Incorporated into the Scheme 9-26 9.6 Scope of the Assessment 9-31 9.6.1 Potential Receptors 9-31 9.6.2 Potentially Significant Effects 9-34 9.7 Assessment Methodology 9-34 9.7.1 Methodology for Prediction of Effects 9-34 9.7.2 Significance Evaluation Methodology 9-34 9.8 Assessment of Effects: St Brise Church, Eglyws Brewis 9-37 9.9 Assessment of Effects: Batslays Farm 9-38 9.10 Assessment of Effects: MoD St Athan Airfield Ground Defences 9-38 9.10.1 Predicted Effects and their Significance 9-38 9.11 Assessment of Effects: Unidentified Archaeology 9-39 9.11.1 Baseline Conditions 9-39 9.11.2 Predicted Effects and their Significance 9-40 9.12 Conclusions of Significance Evaluation 9-41 © Entec UK Limited SA-C1XXX-XX-XXX-EN-X-0210 9.13 Implementation of Environmental Measures 9-42 10.