PROPOSED FRUIT PACKING AND DISTRIBUTION FACILITY AT WARES FARM, LINTON, MAIDSTONE

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1 Land at PROPOSED FRUIT PACKING AND DISTRIBUTION FACILITY AT WARES FARM, LINTON, MAIDSTONE Environmental Statement: Non-Technical Summary December 2016

2 Introduction Alan Firmin Ltd are applying to Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) for full planning permission to develop a large fruit packing and distibution facility (the Proposed Development ) on land south of Redwall Lane at Wares Farm, Linton, Maidstone. The Proposed Development will facilitate the relocation of Alan Firmin s Ltd long term tenant Berry Gardens Ltd, a leading berry and stone fruit production and marketing group, from their existing facilities at Wares Farm to the Proposed Development approximately 100m south of the existing Wares Farm complex. The continuing success of Berry Gardens means they have now outgrown their existing premises and require a new larger facility to sustain their long term growth. An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been carried out in accordance with the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2011 (as amended) as part of the planning process to identify the potential significant environmental effects of the scheme. The results of this assessment are reported in the Environmental Statement (ES) and are summarised in this Non-Technical Summary. Any significant environmental effects remaining after mitigation are reported and represent the likely residual effects of the Proposed Development on the environment (if any). Where identified, significant effects are required to be taken into account in the planning decision making process by a local planning authority (MBC). If consent is granted mitigation measures are secured by planning conditions. What issues have been assessed? Where a particular environmental feature, or component of it, has not been included within an EIA, this is not to suggest that there will be no associated effects; rather that these are not considered to be among the potentially significant effects. What is the purpose of EIA? Figure 1: Site Location Plan The purpose of an EIA is to identify the likely significant effects of a Proposed Development, positive or negative, to some aspect of the environment whether natural or man made. The findings of the EIA are then presented in a document known as an Environmental Statement (ES). The significant environmental effects of the Proposed Development both during and post construction are considered in the ES by appropriate technical experts. Where feasible mitigation measures have been proposed to avoid/reduce an adverse effect identified. The significance of an effect with this mitigation in place is then re-assessed to determine its significance post mitigation. The following issues have been assessed within the Environmental Statement and summarised within this document: Socio-Economics Traffic and Transport Air Quality Noise and Vibration Landscape & Visual Effects Ecology Water, Drainage & Flood Risk Cumulative Effects DHA Environment on behalf of Alan Firmin Ltd, December 2016 page 2

3 The Proposal Site The Site lies approximately 1.5km south west of the village of Linton on the A229 and approximately 7km south of the urban centre of Maidstone. The surrounding land use of the area is predominantly agricultural and horticultural in nature. The existing Wares Farm complex tenanted by the Berry Gardens Co-operative lies approximately 100m north of the Site and comprises approximately 8,082 square metres of B8 (storage and distribution) floor space and an ancillary 743sqm of office space owned by Alan Firmin Ltd. Figure 2: Aerial showing the site and surrounding area The Site is bound to the north by Redwall Lane with further agricultural land and the River Beult to the south. Immediately west of the site lies River Farm under ownership of the applicant and to the east three terraced properties, a small caravan park and polytunnels. The Site comprises a roughly rectangular parcel of land extending to approximately 14ha predominantly comprising improved grassland set to pasture, short sections of species poor hedgerow and a small number of immature scattered trees. There is a small residential property within the Site adjacent to Redwall Lane in the ownership of the applicant known as The Bungalow with associated garden (to be demolished). The site slopes gently north to south from 25m above ordnance datum (AOD) to 15m AOD. A single public footpath runs along the southern boundary of the Site. The nearest legally protected nature conservation site is the River Beult Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) which lies immediately south of the Site. There are no other nature conservation sites within a 3km radius of the site. The High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty lies approximately 8km south of the Site. There are no Scheduled Monuments within a 1km study area of the Site, the nearest Boughton Quarry Camp lies approximately 3.4km north east of the Site. There is a single listed building Burford Farm House (grade II listed) approximately 500m west of the site. There are no other designated heritage assets within a 1km study area of the site. DHA Environment on behalf of Alan Firmin Ltd, December 2016 page 3

4 The Proposed Scheme The application submitted by Alan Firmin Limited to Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) seeks full planning approval for: A 13,991sqm packhouse facility with an additional 4,542sqm of first floor office space 12 loading bays Lorry and car parking Landscaping Servicing and utilities Drainage and infrastructure work Access north from Redwall Lane into the Site Creation of a c.8.9ha landscape/ecological enhancement area Figure 3: Proposed site masterplan The proposed packhouse facility will provide 13,991 sqm of internal operational workspace on the ground floor and approximately 4,452sqm of internal first floor space to include a site office, canteen area, toilets, washroom, staff rooms etc. The operational work space on the ground floor will include an intake area, pack house and processing facility, a requisite store and dispatch area. A circular one way ring road is proposed around the building to suit the required operational needs of the Site. The remaining areas of hardstanding are required for car and lorry parking, vehicle turning, and the siting of external plant i.e. cooling facilities, refuse areas and palette storage.the Site is required to remain available for operation 24 hours a day, although night time operations are limited in scale and it is not necessary to remain fully functional all day every day. DHA Environment on behalf of Alan Firmin Ltd, December 2016 page 4

5 The Proposed Scheme... Figure 4: Proposed building elevations. The packhouse will be 144m long and 97.5m wide positioned perpendicular to Redwall Lane and with a ridge height of 11.8m. The northern elevation of the building will be used for despatch and provides 6 unloading bays for this purpose. The southern elevation of the building will be used for intake (receipt of deliveries) and will also have 6 associated loading bays. The building will be steel framed clad with box profile olive green cladding on the lower two thirds of the elevations, Mushroom box profile cladding above and a quartz grey box profile roof. The northern elevation will also include a 2m wide ragstone element at ground level and green wall feature. DHA Environment on behalf of Alan Firmin Ltd, December 2016 page 5

6 The Proposed Scheme... Landscaping The Proposed Development will include the creation of a c.8.9ha landscape and ecological enhancement area across the Site outside those areas required for built development. This will seek to provide: 1) Improved reinstated native species hedgerow 2) New native species woodland shaws 3) Naturalised ponds 4) Naturalised attenuation basin 5)New native species wildwood 6) Enhanced herb poor grassland 7) Traditional wetland/flood plain grassland 8) Enhanced wetland/scrub habitat Figure 4: Landscape masterplan. An outline Landscape and Ecological Management Plan detailing the indicative planting specification and the management processes for the landscape and ecological enhancement area is provided in the ES. DHA Environment on behalf of Alan Firmin Ltd, December 2016 page 6

7 Impacts Assessed The EIA has assessed a range of potentially significant environmental effects based upon professional experience of a range of competent experts. The findings of the EIA are presented in the ES and summarised below. Further information on any of these topics can be found in the Environmental Statement: Main Report submitted with the planning application. What has been assessed? A scoping checklist of environmental features and their components has been utilised to identify those features or components of them that clearly have the potential to be subjected to likely significant environmental effects and therefore should be included in the EIA. Where there was sufficient doubt as to whether a significant effect may occur a precautionary approach was adopted based on the judgement of an experienced EIA practitioner. Method of assessment The specialist assessments have followed generally similar methodologies. Desk and/or field studies were undertaken to establish the existing situation at the Site and surrounding area. The effects of the Proposed Development were then established using a method that compares the sensitivity /importance of an aspect of the environment with the likely size of the predicted change to establish the degree of effect (negligible, slight, moderate, substantial, very substantial). Typically if an effect is determined to be of moderate significance or above then it is deemed to be a significant effect. The degree of an effect determines the resources that a should be put in place to avoid or reduce a significant adverse effect. Where appropriate mitigation measures have been proposed to avoid/reduce an adverse effect. The significance of an effect with this mitigation in place is then re-assessed to determine its significance post mitigation. Any significant environmental effects remaining after mitigation are reported and represent the likely residual effects of the proposed development on the environment. All methodologies were undertaken in accordance with current guidance and best practice. A summary of the conclusions of the specialist environmental topics is provided below: Socio-Economic The scoping exercise undertaken identified that the Proposed Development could result in significant effects upon employment in the borough. A full desk based assessment of the likely effects of the Proposed Development upon employment was therefore undertaken. Unemployment in the borough is lower than both the regional and national average. However, average full time weekly earnings for employment premises located in the borough are below regional and national averages. The construction of the proposed packhouse facility will lead to an associated increase in employment primarily in the building industry and it is anticipated that a significant proportion of these jobs will come from the local area. This will have a slight beneficial effect on employment and the economy over the anticipated 2-year construction period but is not considered significant at the borough level. Once operational the Proposed Development will result in a moderate significant beneficial effect on employment in the borough creating some 504 jobs by These jobs will have average salaries above the existing average for employment in the borough. Berry Gardens have undertaken a comprehensive alternative site assessment within the borough to find other potentially suitable sites for the development. Neither Berry Gardens nor MBC have been able to identify any available suitable alternative. In the absence of the Proposed Development Berry Gardens have indicated that they will have to locate outside of the borough. This would result in the loss of 938 jobs (estimated total jobs in borough by 2024) within the borough and is considered to be a permanent substantial adverse effect, significant at the borough level. Ecology The site lies immediately north of the River Beult Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) albeit the built development of the Site is some 200m north of the SSSI boundary. A Phase 1 habitat survey of the Site was undertaken in June 2016 and updated in September The Site predominantly comprises species poor semi-improved grassland which is generally considered to be of low ecological value. There is a small length of gappy hedgerow along the northern boundary of the site along Redwall Lane. The Site was considered to be comprised of generally low quality habitat for protected species albeit a great crested newt breeding pond and a small temporary bat roost was discovered offsite albeit close to it. The Proposed Development has therefore been designed to include safeguarding measures to avoid significant adverse effects on these DHA Environment on behalf of Alan Firmin Ltd, December 2016 page 7

8 protected species. With regard to the small bat roost, there would be no direct effect on the building within which the roost is contained. The principal effect relates to lighting and fragmentation of the roost from the wider landscape. In this regard a lighting strategy will be devised and secured by planning conition as part of any consent that will ensure the roost and the building will not be illuminated by the Proposed Development. A new hedgerow will be created along the eastern boundary that will remain unlit creating a dark linear corridor to allow bats to safely access the wider landscape and the enhanced habitats proposed as part of the development. A new artificial bat roost is also proposed in the wider landscape proposals to increase bat roosting potential on the Site. A great crested newt breeding pond lies north of the Site albeit there is a lack of suitable ponds in the wider landscape. The existing Site offers low quality terrestrial habitat for the species. A woodland shaw is proposed along the western boundary of the Site to provide suitable habitat for great crested newts to move freely between their existing pond to the series of new ponds proposed as part of the development s wider landscape proposals. The Proposed Development will provide some 8.9ha of enhanced habitat that will be of much greater ecological value to protected species and will result in a beneficial effect in ecological terms. A drainage strategy has been devised to safeguard water quality by ensuring any runoff is treated before being discharged into the River Beult SSSI. No effects on this receptor are therefore envisaged. Transport A full traffic and transport assessment has been undertaken to assess the likely significant effects of the Proposed Development on the local road network, including highway capacity and safety, and public transport, pedestrians and cyclists in combination with other proposed/ permitted developments in the local area. Redwall Lane will experience the greatest increase in traffic, however, this would always be the case on the immediate access to any given development site, occurring over only a relatively short distance. The Redwall Lane / Linton Hill priority junction will be improved to better serve the development and local road users. The junction radii will be improved and two sections of the road will be widened to ensure two HGVs can pass each other and to improve forward visibility. Further improvements are proposed on Redwall Lane between its junction with Linton Hill and the proposed site. This includes relocation of roadside hedgrows on applicant owned land at Davis Farm Cottages corner to enhance forward visibility. Vehicles associated with the Proposed Development will route via the Linton Crossroads albeit the percentage contribution of the development is not considered significant. Notwithstanding this, the applicant owns a portion of land to the south west corner of the junction. Improvement works to this junction are already proposed by MBC. As part of the Proposed Development the applicant will provide this land to MBC to allow better turning facilities, and the provision of land to the south of the Heath Road (w) arm to provide space for a bus layby away from the main carriageway. With these improvements in place the junction is proposed to operate more efficiently during congestion periods beyond the current proposals set out by MBC alone. In addition to the above measures a draft site-wide Travel Plan is presented with the planning application, and this sets out the measures that will be put in place to encourage a reduction in single occupancy vehicle travel associated with the development. The Travel Plan has been produced in accordance with national and local guidance. With these mitigation measures in place the Proposed Development will not result in significant adverse effects on the local road network. Noise A full noise assessment considering both the construction and post construction effects of the development has been undertaken. The assessment of the potential impacts during the construction of the Proposed Development has identfiied that through good practice and implementation of appropriate mitigation measures, it is expected that the noise effects will not be significant. These mitigation measures will be detailed in a Construction Environmental Management Plan and can be secured by planning condition by Maidstone Borough Council. There will be no night time working on the Site during construction. These mitigation measures will include acoustic louvres and fences and fitting silencers and mufflers to machinery. Once in operation there will be no signficant adverse effects on local residential receptors during the daytime 7am -11pm. The net impact during the night-time period 11pm to 7am on the existing ambient noise environment will be an increase of 0.3dB at the worst affected receptors. An increase of this magnitude would not be perceptible. Even with an open window, the internal ambient noise level at each receptor assessed would be below the 30dB (A) night-time noise limit set out in British Standard 8233:2014 and in accordance with the internal and external noise levels recommended in the World Health Organisation Guidelines for Community Noise (1999). The effect of the Proposed Development is therefore not significant. The assessment demonstrates that there will be no significant effect on offsite road traffic noise as a result of the Proposed Development. Water, drainage and flood risk The operational part of the Proposed Development is located approximately 200m north of the River Beult SSSI in Flood Zone 1 categorised as being at low risk of flooding. DHA Environment on behalf of Alan Firmin Ltd, December 2016 page 8

9 At the construction stage, risks of localised flooding and water pollution would be addressed by undertaking risk assessments and using best construction practice measures. This will reduce the risk to negligible. A sustainable drainage scheme has been designed for the Site to ensure that surface water would be discharged into the river at a rate no greater than would occur if the Site remained undeveloped. Trapped gullies and oil interceptors will be provided to prevent water pollution. These measures would ensure a negligible risk of flooding and water pollution. The effects of climate change over the lifetime of the development have been incorporated by increasing the size of temporary water storage to accommodate a 40% increase in predicted rainfall events. No significant residual effects on flooding or water quality are therefore envisaged to result from the Proposed Development. Air Quality Most of Maidstone has been declared by the Council as an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA). The Site falls outside the AQMA, albeit traffic associated with the Proposed development will route through part of the AQMA. The Air Quality Assessment has considered the potential effects of the Proposed Development on key pollution concentrations associated with human health; in particular nitrogen dioxide (NOx) and small particles (PM<10). An assessment of the potential dust impacts during the construction of the Proposed Development has been undertaken. Through good practice and implementation of appropriate mitigation measures, it is expected that the release of dust would be effectively controlled and mitigated, with resulting impacts considered to be not significant. These mitigation measures will be detailed in a Construction Environmental Management Plan and can be secured by planning condition by Maidstone Borough Council. All dust impacts are considered to be temporary and short-term in nature. Due to the low additional number of HDV trips during the construction phase of the development, there is predicted to be a neutral impact on air quality from road vehicle exhaust emissions. An assessment of exhaust emissions associated with the operation of the Proposed Development determined a negligible residual effect on both annual mean NO2 and PM10 concentrations at all receptor locations, in accordance with the Environmental Protection UK assessment methodology. Landscape and Visual Effects The Site lies in proximity to the Greensand Ridge Special Landscape Area designated by MBC north of Redwall Lane albeit the proposal site itself is outside this designated area. In the emerging Maidstone Borough Council Local Plan this SLA has been removed and replaced by the Sutton Valence Greensand Ridge Landscape of Local Value designation. The boundary of the designated landscape has been moved northwards by approximately 1km (relative to the former SLA boundary). The Site and the surrounding area is predominantly rural, agricultural and holticultural in nature. The detailed design proposals have been considered and informed by relevant landscape and visual amenity issues, with mitigation for landscape and visual effects integrated into the design. Taking these design measures and mitigation into account the assessment concludes that the Propsoed Development has limited potential to give rise to significant long term environmental effects in terms of landscape character and visual amenity. The assessment has concluded that the development will give rise to some limited, temporary adverse effects to both landscape character and visual amenity at the Site at the local scale during the construction phase of the development. These effects are however considered to be typical in nature and as a result of standard construction practises and processes. The assessment has identified that the operational phase of the project has the potential for both, some limited Adverse and Beneficial Impacts upon a restricted number of landscape components and residential properties, but these are assessed to be of a nature and scale not sufficiently significant to give rise to measurable changes in landscape character or visual amenity beyond the site scale. DHA Environment on behalf of Alan Firmin Ltd, December 2016 page 9

10 Site Cumulative Effects Cumulative sites Figure 5: Cumulative Sites Considered in the ES The ES has considered the potential cumulative effects of the Proposed Development in combination with other developments within the local area. Cumulative effects can occur where more than one individual impact may lead to a more significant effect when considered in combination. The following developments listed below and shown on Figure 5 have been considered in combination with the Proposed Development with regard to significant cumulative effects: 1. Land South of Heath Road, Coxheath 2. Land North of Heath Road, Coxheath 3. Church Street, Boughton Monchelsea 4. The Parsonage, Marden 5. Stanley Farm, Marden 6. Marden Hockey and Cricket Club 7. Hen and Duckhurst, Staplehurst 8. Land North of Headcorn Road, Staplehurst 9. Land at Fishers Farm, Staplehurst 10. Stanley Farm, Staplehurst The Proposed Development in combination with the developments outlined will result in a number of minor cumulative effects which are an inevitable result of the quantum of development considered. There are however no significant adverse cumulative effects envisaged. There is considered to be a potentially significant temporary beneficial cumulative effect on construction employment in the borough should the consturction periods of the developments overlap. DHA Environment on behalf of Alan Firmin Ltd, December 2016 page 10

11 Figure 6: Computer generated image showing how the Site is likely to look post-construction viewed from Redwall Lane When will the scheme be built? It is anticipated that subject to planning approval construction of the Proposed Development will commence in spring It is estimated that it will take approximately 12 months to construct the main building and external works with a further fitting out period of weeks. At this stage it is not possible to accurately estimate when the development will become fully operational which is intrinsically linked to the operational impact on the Berry Gardens business and the possible requirement for a controlled sequence linking existing packing lines with new etc. and the logistics of relocating the business operations. Notwithstanding this the Proposed Development is anticipated to become fully operational in Summary The Proposed Development is not considered to result in significant adverse effects on the environment alone or cumulatively when considered in combination with other local developments. Further detailed information on the environmental assessment of the Proposed Development is provided with the main ES and its technical appendices. Comments on the Proposed Development or the environmental assessment work undertaken should be directly to Maidstone Borough Council as the decision maker. Further Information Electronic copies of this Non-Technical Summary, the Environmental Statement Main Report and other planning application documents can be viewed free of charge on the authority s website: If you require further copies of this document, or if you would like to purchase copies of the Environmental Statement, please contact: DHA Environment Eclipse House Eclipse Park Sittingbourne Road Maidstone Kent ME14 3EN Or via to: info@dhaenvironment.co.uk DHA Environment on behalf of Alan Firmin Ltd, December 2016 page 11