CORNWALL COUNCIL RECEIVED 25 NOVEMBER 2013

 

Our ref: 00042058 - Hayle
22"" November 2013

Strategic Planning Issues
Cornwall Council
County Hall
Treyew Road
Truro
TR1 3AY

Dear Sirs,

Progosed Retail scheme - Hagle Shopping Park, Cornwall

Request for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Scoping Opinion on behalf of Cranford
Developments.

Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (England) Regulations 2011
(Regulation 13)

Cranford Developments (the ‘Applicants') intend to submit a full (detailed) Planning Application in December 2013 for a retail led development on the southern portion of the 12.6 hectare (approximate area) Site, located at the eastern end of Hayle, Cornwall. Figure 1 shows the extent of the proposed application site in yellow with the parcel of land identified for the retail and associated development in red (the "Site"). Discussions are on-going with Cornwall Council (CC) and the statutory consultees concerning the proposed scheme design which is at an evolving stage, albeit the components of the Proposed Development and the maximum anticipated quantum of each are not expected to change significantly in the lead up to submission.

INTRODUCTION & CONTEXT

The emerging Proposed Development layout is based upon the practicalities of achieving a suitable and viable development, and will continue to be developed in discussion with Cornwall Council and relevant consultees such as the Environment Agency, the Highways Agency, the Cornwall Wildlife Trust and Natural England. Throughout the design process the Applicant, their project design team and environmental specialists have worked together and used this design iteration process to optimise the nature, form and layout of the development and to avoid, reduce or offset where possible, through revisions to the scheme design, the potential for any likely significant environmental effects arising, which have, as far as possible, be identified at an early stage so that appropriate measures can be incorporated into the final Application Plans.

Given the nature of the Site and the surrounding area, the extent of the development area, and the type of development proposed, it is anticipated that the Proposed Development would be defined as Schedule 2 (1ob) EIA Development‘ in The Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (England) Regulations 2011 (hereafter referred to as the EIA Regulations 2011). The on-going design process has led the Applicants to take the decision to submit an Environmental Statement (ES) with the planning application to demonstrate that the development will have no significant adverse environmental effects (or at least none that are not capable of being mitigated either through inherent design or otherwise) and the Site is a suitable location for the proposed development in policy and legislative terms.

WSP Environment and Energy have therefore been commissioned by Cranford Developments to undertake the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in accordance with the EIA Regulations 2011 and prepare the Environmental Statement (ES) to accompany the Planning Application expected to be submitted in December 2013. Regulation 13 of the EIA Regulations 2011 provides for potential applicants to ask the Local Planning Authority (LPA) to state in writing the information that ought to be provided in an E8. The EIA Regulations 2011 also stipulate a number of formal requirements regarding the Scoping procedure.

The Applicants recognise the value of agreeing the scope of the ES with the Council and is therefore requesting that the Local Planning Authority (LPA) provide a formal Scoping Opinion to state in writing the information that ought to be provided in the ES. The “Scoping Opinion" is to be offered only following discussion with the consultation bodies (Regulation 13 of the EIA Regulations 2011).

Relevant details of whether there are likely to be ‘significant’ environmental effects that should be included within the ES are set out below and in the attached Appendices (collectively known as the Scoping Report). The purpose of the Scoping Report is to ensure that all relevant issues have been identified and to confirm that the assessment process described will meet legislative requirements and provide sufficient information on the potential environmental effects of the proposals to enable the determination of any future planning application. The Scoping Report therefore:

• Describes the Application Site and the nature and purpose of the Proposed Development (See Below);
• Determines any key environmental issues and constraints associated with the Proposed Development to be included in the ES or scoped out (See Below and Appendix 1); For those disciplines to be included in the ES, outlines the assessment scope and methodology for assessing the likely significant environmental effects to be employed for each discipline(See Appendix 2);
• Establishes the format of the ES (including a description of the significance criteria to be used for the EIA) (See Appendix 3);
• Enables the Council and others to undertake early consultations with key statutory and non-statutory consultees to determine the key issues and proposed methodologies for further assessments as part of the EIA process (See Below); and
• Seeks to formally agree with the relevant authorities the scope of the assessments for the EIA through the Council's formal Scoping Opinion.
  

DESCRIPTION OF APPLICATION SITE

The Site, extending to approximately 12.6 hectares (ha), is located on a parcel of land to the east of Marsh Lane and to the north of Grist Lane in Hayle, Cornwall and is shown on Figure 2. The Site is bordered by Marsh Lane industrial Estate to the south, existing West Cornwall Retail Park to the west, and agricultural land to the north and east. The Angarrack River forms the north eastern boundary of the Site and an existing Premier Inn Hotel, a Restaurant and McDonald's drive-thru are adjacent to the north western boundary as shown on Figure 1.

The Site currently comprises mainly reed bed, marshy grassland and tall ruderal vegetation and scrub with pockets of woodland. The Angarrack River flows along the north eastern edge of the application site (flowing southeast to northwest), with tributaries running throughout the northern half of the application site. The application site is identified on the Proposals Map of the Penwith
 District Local Plan (February 2004) as within (in part) an area of Land Liable to Flood. The land gently slopes towards the north western corner of the application site. A dismantled railway line runs through the centre of the application site in an east to west orientation. Existing overhead power cables traverse the site. It is proposed that these will be removed or re-routed as part of the development.

As shown on Figure 1, the Site is to include land to the north of Grist Lane to accommodate retail and food and drink units and associated car parking (circa 500 spaces), with an area of community open space and a nature viewing area to the east. Land to the north and east of the proposed development will be subject to a long term management programme to improve the
quality of the County Wildlife Site (CWS).

The Site (in part) is subject to a non~statutory nature conservation designation (CWS). This is confirmed by information from the Multi Agency Geographical Information for the Countryside (MAGIC) database and Cornwall Council (CO). The site isn’t subject to any statutory nature conservation designations.

The nearest Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSi). Loggans Moor, is located approximately 26om north of the Site beyond the A30. This is designated on the basis that the Moor is an area of species rich meadow and marshland. with calcareous and marshy grassland. and running and standing water. Within 8oom there are two additional SSSI, Hayle Estuary and Carrack Gladden, and Gwithian to Mexico Towans, to the west and north respectively.

PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT

The Proposed Development will comprise a retail led development to take the form of a detailed
Planning Application comprising:

• Approximately 166,250 sq.ft/ 15,445sq.m (including mezzanines) of retail space (A1 and A3);
• Approximately 500 surface level car parking spaces;
• Improvements to the A30 Loggans Moor roundabout;
• Improved access from the A30 roundabout along Marsh Lane and Grist Lane;
• Landscaping and sustainable urban drainage systems;
• The provision of Community Open Space incorporating land to the east of the development site;
• Long term management of the County Wildlife Site in the north and east of the development site;
• Provision of footpath I cycle links to the wider area including Hayle and the provision of a footpath towards Angarrack; and
• Flood mitigation measures to the southeast of the River Angarrack
  

SCOPE OF THE EIA

Following a desktop study and review of existing information, the following potential environmental effects have been identified for the nature and scale of the Proposed Development:

• Employment generation during construction and operation;
• Visitor numbers and expenditure estimates during operation;
• Changes in landscape features, characteristics and views during construction and operation;
• Loss of habitats and features of ecological value within the Site during construction and potential for disturbance effects once the development is operational;
• Changes in distribution of traffic on local road network and effects on pedestrian and cyclist severance during construction and operation;
• Traffic related effects during construction and operation including changes in air quality and noise;
• Noise arising from the construction of the Proposed Development on noise-sensitive receptors;
• Changes in drainage patterns on-site, potential reduction to the risk of flooding (clue to mitigation measures proposed);
  

Appendix 1 provides the Applicant’s current position on which environmental disciplines. or particular aspects of them, can be scoped in or scoped out of the ES. Disciplines that are scoped in are judged likely to have the potential to cause likely significant environmental effects. Disciplines that are scoped out of the ES are those which are not anticipated to result in significant environmental effects. The decision to scope in or out issues is based upon current understanding of baseline conditions and the results of the survey work carried out to date (as set out below) and factors such as: a high degree of separation between the development and receptor; the lack of effect pathways; or the known low value or sensitivity of affected resources (Refer to Appendix 2: Detailed Scope of the EIA and Key Issues for additional Information).

Page 3

Surveys undertaken to date include:

• Phase 1 Habitat Survey (July 2013). The Phase 1 habitat survey was carried out in accordance with the JNCC (2003) methodology.
• Traffic surveys;
• Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment;
  

Discussions are on-going with the Highways Agency and Cornwall Council, to agree the extent and scope for the separate Transport Assessment (Application Report). The Transport Assessment will be used to inform the Transport Impact Assessment to be included within the ES.

The Applicants intend to rely upon the above survey work for the EIA. Further surveys/studies relating to ecology (badgers, otters and wintering birds) will be undertaken in the appropriate survey season. They are not expecting to undertake significant further survey or site investigation work either pre submission or determination of the application to inform the EIA that could not be
agreed or imposed as an appropriately worded planning condition on any future planning permission.

Disciplines scoped into the EIA

In summary, the following topics are considered to have the potential for environmental effects and therefore warrant assessment and are scoped into the ES (with further information on the proposed assessment methodology presented in Appendix 2):

• Traffic and Transport;
• Ecology and Biodiversity;
• Flood Risk Assessment; and
• Socio-Economics.

The proposed structure and format of the Environmental Statement (E8) is set out in Appendix 3 (including a description of the significance criteria to be used for the EIA). The ES therefore will review and provide the findings of an assessment of the environmental issues identified in Part 1 of Schedule 4 of the ElA Regulations 2011 as is reasonably required to assess the environmental effects of the development, but would also include for consideration at least the information in Part 2 as part of the ES, namely population, fauna, flora, soils, water, air, climatic factors, material assets, including archaeological, heritage and landscape features.

The ElA Regulations 2011 also require that the ES contains ‘. ..an outline of the main alternatives studied by the applicant or appellant and an indication of the main reasons for his choice, taking into account the environmental effects.’ (Schedule 4; Part 1). The ES will therefore consider the main alternatives which have been studied by the applicant, in terms of the location, layout and design principles.

Disciplines scoped out of the EIA

The following topics have been ‘scoped out‘ of the ES based on the technical evidence provided below.

• Landscape and Visual Impact: The site is situated approximately 4oom from a World Heritage Site (Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape) and within c250m of the nearest listed structure (Grade II listed milestone on Carwin Rise), however, it is considered unlikely that the site will be visible from the WHS. As such, it is considered unlikely that changes to site character during construction and operation will result in significant changes to views to/from these heritage assets. A Design and Access Statement is expected to be submitted with the application to include and provide the design context.
  
  Whilst the site is situated within 4km of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, due to distance, intervening built form and topography and anticipated scope and nature of the proposed development, it is not considered likely that setting or views to! from the AONB will be significantly affected.
  
  There are no public rights of way within the immediate "vicinity and the nearest paths are separated from the site by intervening built form. Those to the north-east would view the site in the context of the surrounding built form and changes are unlikely to be significant.
  
  
• Air Quality: The nearest residential dwellings to the proposed development footprint are approximately 16om to the east within the village of Angarrack, and it is considered that potential effects on air quality during the construction phase can be adequately controlled with a planning condition to ensure that the potential for dust generation is minimised through the implementation of appropriate management plans.
  
  The nearest Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) to site is associated with the Camborne, Redruth and Pool regeneration area approximately 6km to the northeast of the site. Given the volume of traffic already utilising the A30 it is considered unlikely that the development traffic would result in a significant percentage increase in traffic movements on the A30.
  
  Traffic improvements to be made to the Loggans Moor Roundabout and improved access from the A30 roundabout along Marsh Lane and Grist Lane will aim to alleviate congestion, this in turn should have knock on effects to air quality.
  
  
• Noise and Vibration: The nearest residential dwellings to the proposed development footprint are approximately 180m to the east within the village of Angarrack. and it is considered that potential effects associated with noise can be adequately controlled with a planning condition to ensure that construction noise is minimised through the implementation of appropriate management plans.
  
  It is considered that the potential for noise during operation associated with fixed plant will be dealt with by a condition which will set out an appropriate acoustic performance standard in line with the existing plant installed at the established nearby retail units and the industrial estate. Given the distances to the nearest sensitive receptors, the acoustically absorbent nature of the intervening ground cover, the acoustic screening afforded by the proposed units and the likely delivery and opening hours, it is considered that the potential for significant adverse effects from delivery and car parking noise is small.
  
  It is not anticipated that additional noise generated as a result of traffic movements to and from the site will be significant assuming that the majority of development traffic will utilise the A30. On this basis, the percentage of change in traffic movements on the A30 is anticipated to be small.
  
  Traffic improvements to be made to the Loggans Moor Roundabout and improved access from the A30 roundabout along Marsh Lane and Grist Lane will aim to alleviate congestion, this in turn should have knock on effects to traffic generated noise.
  
  
• Archaeology 8. Cultural Heritage: Review of the WSP iGIS mapping database has not identified any features or assets of archaeological interest within the application site. There are a number of Grade II Listed structures within the vicinity of the site and the boundary of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site lies o4oom to the west of the site; however, it is considered unlikely that these assets would be affected by the proposed development.
  Notwithstanding this, an Archaeological Desk Based Assessment will be prepared and submitted as an Application Report.
  
  
• Services and Utilities: Existing services and utilities and any required diversions or new provision are being taken into consideration as part of the masterplan process for the Site and suitable solutions are being agreed with the relevant service providers such that no significant effects are anticipated.
  
  
• Microclimate (Wind, Daylight, Sunlight and Overshadowing): The proposed development will not be taller than the surrounding structures hence the microclimate environment (wind, daylight, sunlight and overshadowing) is not likely to change (deteriorate/improve) significantly from the existing conditions.
  
  
• Television, Radio and Telecommunications Reception. Arqiva, who is the operator of all terrestrial TV and most radio broadcast radio in the UK, only requires potentially significant effects relating to television, radio and telecommunication to be considered on projects which include structures of greater than 15 metres in height. There will be a variety of different heights across the development, although none are predicted to be taller than the 15 metres.
  
  
• Ground Conditions Preliminary Risk Assessment. A brief review of available historical Ordnance Survey mapping indicates that the site has remained largely undeveloped. The exceptions to this are the disused railway and evidence of historical filters beds within the vicinity of the lorry park and the lorry park itself. Given the largely greenfield nature of the site, it is considered unlikely that significant sources of contamination are present.
  

Cumulative Effects of the Proposed Development together with Committed Developments

The EIA Regulations 2011 require the likely significant cumulative environmental effects of a development to be considered. As part of the ES, the technical assessments for each topic will consider the potential for cumulative or in-combination effects (at receptor level). Cumulative effects will be considered in terms of:

• The interaction and combination of environmental effects, and indirect effects of the Proposed Development affecting the same receptor, either within the Site or in the local area; and
• The interaction and combination of environmental effects of the Proposed Development with committed projects and activities affecting the same receptor. Committed development is defined as development for which planning consent has been granted.
  

There is no single widely accepted published methodology for the assessment of cumulative environmental effects. However a number of best practice guidance documents are available, including those published by Department of Communities and Local Government and the European Commission and these will be referred to during the completion of this element of the ES. ‘Guidelines for the Assessment of Indirect and Cumulative Impacts as well as Impact Interactions’ (European Commission, 1999) provide the following guidance on cumulative effects:

• "In practical terms, the extent of the assessment in terms of how far into the past and into the future will be dependent upon the availability and quality of information.
• “...it is only reasonable to consider current events and those that will take place in the foreseeable future. Furthermore, the assessment can only be based on the data that is readily available.
  

The guidance above identifies that a cumulative effects assessment should only consider those schemes that can reasonably be presumed to go ahead and for which sufficient information is available. This is usually taken to be those schemes that have the benefit of Planning Permission as identified on the relevant authority's Planning Application Register.

A search has been undertaken of Cornwall Councils Planning Application Registers for recently permitted developments (registered in the c. 3 years prior to writing), within approximately 2km of the centre of the Site. It was assumed that any planning applications permitted prior to October 2010 would have already commenced construction. and therefore would form part of the baseline conditions for the EIA. Any schemes located beyond 2km of the Site would be unlikely to have significant cumulative effects with the Proposed Development.

The search revealed one committed development that could have potentially significant cumulative environmental effects together with the Proposed Development. This development relates to South Quay, Hayle. We would weicome confirmation from Cornwall Council on whether there are any potential schemes that require consideration in terms of potential cumulative effects.

Each individual technical chapter of the ES and will describe the findings of the assessment of umulative effects arising from the combination of the Proposed Development together with relevant committed developments in the locality.

CONSULTATION FOR THE SCOPING OPINION

Under the terms of Regulation 13 (4) we ask the local planning authority to consult with at least the consultation bodies identified in Regulation 2(1) of the EIA Regulations 2011, including but not limited to Natural England and the Environment Agency before issuing their Scoping Opinion to enable the above organisations to provide their input into the formal Scoping process.

Consultation with both statutory and non-statutory consultees will be undertaken during future stages of the EIA. Initially, this EIA Scoping Request will provide the basis for consultation on the nature of the Proposed Development, its potential environmental effects, and the scope and methodology proposed for the EIA. To this end, Cornwall Council is expected to‘, on receipt of this
EIA Scoping Request:

‘Notify the consultation bodies in writing of the name and address of the person who intends to submit an Environmental Statement and of the duty imposed on the consultation bodies by paragraph (4) to make information available to that person; and inform in writing the person who intends to submit an Environmental Statement of the names and addresses of the bodies so notified.’

At this stage, .it is envisaged that, as a minimum, the following consultation bodies will be notified:'

• Environment Agency;
• Natural England;
• Cornwall Council Departments (including Environmental Health, Heritage Service, Highways);
• Highways Agency; and
• Cornwall Wildlife Trust.
  

We trust that we have provided the Council with all of the information required and, in accordance with Part 4, Section 13, Paragraph (4) of the EIA Regulations, we look forward to receiving your formal scoping opinion within 5 weeks.

Yours faithfully

Karen McAllister
Environmental Planning Director
WSP Environment and Energy

Figure 1: Application Site including Development Site
Figure 2: Site Location

Appendix 1: Summary of EIA Scope
Appendix 2: Detailed Scope of the EIA and Key Issues
Appendix 3: Proposed Format and Structure of the Environmental Statement
1 Statutory Instrument 1824. The Town and Country Planning (Environmental impact Assessment) (England) Regulations 2011.

 

PLEASE NOTE THESE DOCUMENTS HAVE BEEN PUT THROUGH AN OCR - check the originals for definitive information http://planning.cornwall.gov.uk:8181/rpp/showimage.asp?j=PA13/10825&inde...