Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations) 2011 SCOPING OPINION

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1 Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations) 2011 SCOPING OPINION Application Site and Description of Development Proposed new quarry at Culham, Oxfordshire Land and Mineral Management Ltd. have requested a scoping opinion and submitted a scoping report providing details of the proposed development, dated April Hills Quarry Products Ltd proposes to open a new sand and gravel quarry on a site immediately south of the A415, 3km to the south east of Abingdon. The site is currently agricultural land. The site covers 160 hectares and is bounded by the River Thames to the south and the Oxford to Reading railway line to the west. It is proposed to extract 4.75 million tonnes of mineral over a 25 year period. Inert materials would be imported for restoration works at a rate of tonnes per annum. The site would be worked dry with the continuous pumping of groundwater. A new processing plant site would be established at the site to wash and grade extracted material. This would include weighbridge, offices, concrete plant stockpiling areas and silt lagoons. Restoration would include areas for agriculture, nature conservation (reedbed, wet woodland and fen marshland) and water based recreation. The water based recreation would include a 1000 metre multi-lane rowing lake with club house and parking and a 275 berth marina. The following consultation responses have been received in relation to the Scoping Request submission. Oxfordshire County Council recommends that the details requested by these specialist consultees are incorporated into the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Assessment General The Environmental Statement should be submitted as a separate document from the planning application and would need to include the information as set out in Parts I and II of Schedule 4 of the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations Please find details in Annex 2.

2 Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) recommends that the details requested by the specialist consultees, as set out in Annex 1, are incorporated into the EIA. Mitigation measures should be described for the identified significant impacts. An assessment of the effectiveness of the mitigation measures should also be included. Other impacts that are not considered to be significant will not need to be assessed to the same level of detail as the impacts identified above. However, some detail will be required to indicate that they have been considered and why they are not considered to be significant. Mitigation measures should also be identified. The EIA should identify sensitive receptors, for example residential properties within close proximity, and consider the impacts on these. The responses from the Parish Councils provide further details of sensitive receptors in the area. The Environmental Statement should cover the whole site, including all ancillary development and all the phases of the development, including restoration. Specific Chapters The following potential effects were proposed in the Scoping Report: Visual, Landscape and Landscape Character Transport and Highways Airborne Dust Noise Ecology and Biodiversity Potential Bird Strike Hydrology and Hydrogeology Flood Risk Archaeology Agriculture, Agricultural Land Classification and Soil Climate Change Social Economic Impacts Oxfordshire County Council can confirm that it agrees that these topics must be considered in the Environmental Impact Assessment. Visual, Landscape and Landscape Character

3 The applicant should pay attention to the detailed advice concerning the scope of the Landscape and Visual Assessments provided by Natural England and appended to this report. These assessments must take account of the proximity of the site to a nationally designated landscape (North Wessex Downs AONB) and to the Thames Path National Trail. The assessments should comply with the methodology set out in the Guidelines for Landscape and Visual Assessment, produced by the Landscape Institute and the Institute of Environmental Assessment and Management in 2013 (3 rd edition) All stages of the development should be assessed, including development associated with restoration and aftercare. The assessment should include cumulative impact with other developments. Impact on local landscape character should be assessed using landscape assessment methodologies. Transport and Highways The applicant should ensure that the Transport and Highways Assessment complies with the requirements of the Transport Development Control Team, appended to this report. The general scope of this section as set out in the Scoping Report is acceptable. However, the assessment should also be compliant with the Department for Transport s Guidance on Transport Assessment and include the following specific items: Identification of likely vehicle routings whilst making the commitment to exclude quarry related HGVs from passing through Abingdon town centre; Assessment of the impact of quarry traffic on the A415 between the proposed quarry access and the A4074 in the east, to include detailed capacity analysis at its junctions with the B4015 at Clifton Hamden and the A4074 at Berinsfield; A diagram demonstrating acceptable visibility splay for the proposed site access; A diagram demonstrating acceptable swept path movements through the access for all vehicle types that will use it; A statement of how the footpaths passing through the site will be maintained or re-provided; Present traffic flow figures in a format compatible with that required for noise and air quality calculations.

4 Airborne Dust As identified in the application for a scoping opinion, the EIA should include an assessment of dust and the potential impact on sensitive receptors. There should also be an assessment of air quality, including from vehicles. Noise The noise impact assessment should include all potential sources of noise and all stages of the development, including the afteruse. The advice of the Vale of White Horse Environmental Health Officer should be followed and the principles of Noise Policy Statement for England and the National Planning Policy Framework should be adhered to. The maximum levels of internal and external noise as detailed in BS:8233:2014 should be applied. The method in BS4142 should be applied to industrial processes on site to assess their impact on the existing residential properties. The noise assessment should also include vibration impacts. Ecology and Biodiversity The detailed advice of Natural England, BBOWT, the Environment Agency and the Ecologist Planner, as set out in the appendix, should be followed to determine the scope of species and habitat survey work required. Initially a desk top survey and Phase 1 habitat survey will be required to inform the need for further survey work. It is recommended that the CIEEM EcIA guidelines are followed. The impact on designated sites of nature conservation should be considered. All stages of the development should be considered, including the restoration and aftercare, which offers the potential for habitat creation and biodiversity enhancement. The development should contribute towards meeting the targets of the Thames Clifton to Shillingford Conservation Target Area, which it falls partly within. Potential Bird Strike OCC confirms that this will need to be addressed. Hydrology and Hydrogeology The detailed comments from the Environment Agency will need to be taken into account. Details of monitoring data should be provided along with any

5 assessments made. This section should include an assessment of the potential impact on water quality. Flood Risk The Flood Risk Assessment should assess all stages of the development and all forms of flooding. The Sequential Test will need to be undertaken and passed to demonstrate that this is the most suitable location for the proposed development. A sequential approach should be taken to the location of bunds and processing equipment. Archaeology The EIA should include an assessment of the archaeological importance of the site, an archaeological desk based assessment, targeted geophysics and an archaeological evaluation of the site. Agriculture, Agricultural Land Classification and Soil Natural England have provided detailed comments on how this should be addressed through the EIA, these comments should be taken into account in finalising the scope of this section. Climate Change The section on climate change should include wider sustainability considerations. The impact of climate change will need to be considered as part of other assessment work, including the Flood Risk Assessment and the ecological work. Social Economic Impacts OCC confirm that there should be a section in the EIA to address Social and Economic impacts. The responses from the Parish Councils have provided details of local businesses and other receptors which could be affected by the proposed development. Additional Topics In addition to the chapter headings identified by the applicant, there should be a section setting out in full the description of the development and a section considering alternatives, covering both alternative sites and alternative methods of working including the advantages and disadvantages of each.

6 Conclusion Provided that the above information is included and the detailed requirements of the consultees (Annex 1) are taken into account, Oxfordshire County Council considers that the Environmental Statement would sufficiently cover the necessary information for inclusion in an Environmental Impact Assessment. However EIA is an iterative process that allows the development proposal to be continually refined. Therefore further information may be required at a later stage. Signed M Thompson. (Case Officer) Date 20 th June 2014 Approved by (Planning Regulation Service Manager) On behalf of the Director for Environment & Economy Date: 20 June 2014