Visual Impact Provision Peak District (East) Project, Environmental Assessment Report Volume 1 13 SOCIO-ECONOMICS & TOURISM Summary This chapter assesses the likely significant effects on socio-economic features associated with the Proposed Project. This included consideration of tourism, recreation, community amenity, employment and supply chains. Construction of the Proposed Project has the potential to generate direct and indirect positive effects through the creation of new jobs. The majority of construction work would require the appointment of approved contractors. These highly-trained specialists are likely to be located throughout the UK and Europe with experience of moving from site to site as new projects are developed. Therefore, the positive employment and induced spending effects from these workers would be realised at a regional and national level rather than a local level. Local employment opportunities would be expected in sectors including site security, construction labouring, plant hire, haulage, landscaping, fencing and drainage. However, the effect on local employment is predicted to be minor beneficial and not significant. Construction workers are likely to stay in local accommodation during the construction phase; this is expected to generate some short-term benefit to the local economy. There would also be further indirect economic benefits arising from expenditure by the work-force on subsistence and consumables in the local area. However the effect on local businesses and the supply chain is predicted to be minor beneficial and not significant. A 1.6km temporary diversion of the existing Trans Pennine Trail will be required as part of the Proposed Project in order to allow for the installation of the Cable Corridor. The proposed diversion will exit the existing Trans Pennine Trail to the east of the Dunford Bridge car park and follow an existing farm track. The temporary diversion will be installed to the north of the River Don and parallel to the Trans Pennine Trail. Where possible the diversion will be designed to be compliant with the relevant gradient requirements of the Equality Act 2010 (formerly covered under the Disability Discrimination Act), in order to be accessible to people with limited mobility, including wheelchair users. The diversion would be in place for approximately 1-1.5 years. A Trans Pennine Trail Management Plan will be in place throughout the duration of construction. The re-launching of the Trans Pennine Trail after the completion of the construction phase could indirectly act as a stimulus to tourism and attract more visitors to the area although this would be considered to be a minor beneficial impact (not significant). Overall, the socio-economic assessment has concluded that no significant adverse effects are anticipated on tourism, recreation, community amenity, employment and supply chain during construction, operation and decommissioning phases. 13-1 Visual Impact Provision Peak District (East) Project, Environmental Assessment Report Volume 1 13.1 Introduction 13.1.1 This chapter of the Environmental Assessment Report assesses the potential significant effects on socio-economic and tourism receptors associated with the construction, operation and decommissioning phases of the Visual Impact Provision (VIP) Peak District (East) National Park Project (hereafter referred to as the Proposed Project). 13.1.2 This chapter focuses on the effects of the Proposed Project as a whole and not for individual elements, which would include those subject to individual planning applications. 13.1.3 The potential effects considered in this assessment are summarised under five subtopics, as follows: • Tourism: potential impacts on tourism businesses and the wider tourism sector, such as changes in access and/or amenity1. • Recreation: potential impacts on recreational receptors such as changes in access and/or amenity effects. Recreational receptors include promoted routes, cycle routes, public rights of way (PRoW), long-distance walking routes (LDWR), open access land and any recreational facilities. • Community amenity: potential amenity effects on community settlements and residents. • Employment: direct and indirect employment generation on a local and regional basis. • Supply chain: expenditure within the local and national supply chain. 13.1.4 In the context of this assessment, ‘amenity’ is the term used to describe the character or attractiveness of an area. Amenity can be affected when two or more environmental effects are experienced by the same receptor (e.g. a cycling route), with the potential to deter users of the receptor (e.g. cyclists). The following environmental effects are considered in the amenity assessment: landscape and visual effects2, traffic and transport effects (including access effects3), and noise and vibration effects. Due to these interactions between environmental effects and socio-economic receptors, it is recommended that this report be read in conjunction with Chapter 6 (Landscape and Visual), Chapter 12 (Traffic and Transport) and Chapter 14 (Noise and Vibration). 13.1.5 Amenity effects are considered during construction only. Operational traffic effects were scoped out of the assessment, as reported in Chapter 12 (Traffic and Transport). Furthermore, as reported in Chapter 14 (Noise and Vibration), no significant operational noise effects are anticipated. There is potential for visual amenity effects during operation, as reported in Chapter 6 (Landscape and Visual). As only one environmental effect is likely to be significant during operation, no further amenity assessment is required. 1 See paragraph 13.1.3 for a definition of ‘amenity’. 2 The Scoping Report refers to ‘Landscape and visual issues: the effect of landscape and visual impact from a socio-economic perspective’. Here this has been extended to ‘Amenity’ in order to capture a broader scope of environmental effects, as well as landscape and visual issues. 3 Access is considered when assessing impacts on tourism and recreational receptors but is not included in the community amenity assessment since access to residences is assessed in Chapter 12 (Traffic and Transport). The effects on access considered in the socio-economic assessment takes the effects on severance from the Traffic & Transport assessment. 13-2 Visual Impact Provision Peak District (East) Project, Environmental Assessment Report Volume 1 13.1.6 Typically, an assessment of amenity would also consider air quality impacts; however, potential impacts of the Proposed Project on local air quality are considered unlikely to give rise to significant adverse effects. For this reason, a full air quality assessment was scoped out of the Environmental Assessment Report. Air quality management measures have been included within the draft Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) [Appendix 2B] where appropriate. 13.1.7 Due to the small number of employees expected during the operation of the Proposed Project, the assessment of employment effects during operation is scoped out of the assessment. Additionally, as the Proposed Project will require a workforce with specialist skills, it is assumed that there would be no displacement of workers away from local businesses. For this reason, employment effects on local businesses are not assessed. 13.1.8 Effects on agriculture and land use are described in Chapter 11 (Agriculture and Land Use). No significant effects on agriculture or land use are identified and therefore no further assessment of economic impacts on crops and farmland was included in this assessment. 13.2 Scope and Methodology Study Area 13.2.1 The geographic Study Areas used in this assessment are presented in Table 13.1. Table 13.1 Study Area Descriptions Area Description of Area England The country of England. This area is one of the nine official regions in Yorkshire and the Humber England. This borough council lies within the Yorkshire Barnsley Metropolitan and the Humber region. Barnsley is the largest Borough Council town in the borough. Lower Super Output Area The Study Area lies within the ‘Barnsley 027D’ (LSOA)4 LSOA. The Wider Study Area extends to 5km from the Wider Study Area Study Area. For the purposes of this assessment the Study Area includes the ‘Site Boundary’ plus a 500m Study Area buffer around the Site Boundary (see Figure 13.1). Boundary of the Proposed Project. Site Boundary Encompasses permanent and temporary works. 13.2.2 Effects on tourism businesses are primarily considered within the Study Area; however, a Wider Study Area was also applied to tourism businesses that are particularly important or sensitive. Effects on recreation are considered within the Study Area only. 13.2.3 Amenity effects arise from a combination of environmental effects and as such, the study area for amenity is defined by the following chapters: Chapter 6 (Landscape 4 LSOA is a geographic area. LSOAs were designed to improve the reporting of small area statistics in England and Wales. 13-3 Visual Impact Provision Peak District (East) Project, Environmental Assessment Report Volume 1 and Visual), Chapter 12 (Traffic and Transport) and Chapter 14 (Noise and Vibration). 13.2.4 Effects on employment and the supply chain and businesses are considered within the context of the LSOA and at the regional and national level. Data sources 13.2.5 Baseline data was collected using the following key information sources: • The UK Government’s National Planning Policy Framework5; • The Peak District and Derbyshire Growth Strategy