BROOK STREET PROPERTIES TENCREEK FARM, LISKEARD Land at Environmental Statement: Non-Technical Summary
Introduction Brook Street Properties is applying to Cornwall Council for outline planning permission for a mixed-use development on land at Tencreek Farm, Liskeard. An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been carried out as part of the planning process to identify the potential environmental effects of the scheme. The results of this assessment are reported in the Environmental Statement and are summarised in this Non-Technical Summary. The EIA has been undertaken following consultation with Cornwall Council and various other organisations following a scope agreed with Cornwall Council. What issues have been assessed? The following issues have been assessed within the Environmental Statement and have been summarised within this document: Socio-economic effects Ecology Transport Noise Drainage and Flood Risk Air Quality Landscape & Visual Impact Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Agricultural Land Map showing the location of Tencreek Farm For each issue the assessors have considered the likely positive and negative environmental effects of the proposed development, during the construction process and once the development is operational. Where effects have been identified, mitigation measures have been proposed to avoid, or limit or offset any negative impacts. DHA Environment on behalf of Brook Street Properties page 2
The Proposal Site The Site is formed by 26 hectares of mostly agricultural land at Tencreek Farm, close to the A38/A390 junction and the Liskeard Tavern. Where is the site? The site is on the south-eastern edge of Liskeard and is bounded by the A38 to the south-west, a country lane to Roseland and Menheniot to the south, the A390 and Liskeard to the west, and open countryside to the north and east. In total the site is approximately 26.6 ha in area. The site is directly accessed from an existing roundabout on the A390 at its junction with the A38. This part of the Site is approximately 1km from the town centre. What are the neighbouring uses? A Premier Inn hotel and the Liskeard Tavern pub/restaurant are located on Haviland Road, by the entrance to the Site. To the north-west of the A390 is a retail park, beyond which is a Morrisons supermarket and residential areas. Land to the north and east is open agricultural fields. The northern boundary is formed by a stream in a wooded valley. The Tencreek Farm buildings are to the south-east. Tencreek Cottages front onto the A38 immediately south of the Site. Two public footpaths run across the site. The exact line of these footpaths may need to be diverted. What landscape is the Site in? The local landscape is dominated by broad ridges and plateaux, with narrow, steep sided valleys cut into the higher ground. The southern part of the Site is on the crest of a ridge between two valleys. Overall the site falls from a height of around 135m above sea level on the highest ridge to 72m at the valley floor. The steepest fall is into the valley at the northern end of the Site. An aerial view of the site and surrounding area What is the Site used for? The Site is agricultural land most of which is in productive use. Part of the Site along the A38 frontage had outline permission for a roadside services area, and a hotel and pub/ restaurant have been built (just outside the Site boundary). DHA Environment on behalf of Brook Street Properties page 3
The Proposed Scheme Outline planning permission is being sought for a sustainable urban extension to Liskeard including up to 550 homes, 4.7 hectares of land for a variety of employment uses, a care home, over 6 hectares of public open space and associated engineering works, access roads, drainage, structural landscaping and car parking. It is also proposed to close off the junction between the Roseland Lane and the A38. Outline permission means that approval is only being sought for the principle of the use. Details such as the exact location and design of the buildings will need to be approved by the Council in future. An illustrative scheme has been drawn up based on the proposed uses listed above. This sets out one way in which the site could be developed and has been used to consider the potential impacts of the scheme. Why is development being proposed here? The Applicant has proposed the development to meet an identified need for additional housing and employment land in Liskeard. Illustrative masterplan showing how the site could be laid out As well as providing new homes, the Site could accommodate a range of employment uses. In particular, the development would enable Royal Mail to relocate their sorting office from the town centre, enabling that site to be freed up for regeneration. It could also accommodate leisure development, such as a cinema and restaurants. A neighbourhood centre is proposed, with small local shops and healthcare facilities. What will the buildings look like? As mentioned above, the actual design will be the subject of a future application, but the illustrative plan above shows how the site could be laid out. The outline application includes an indication of the maximum storey heights for different areas of the Site. No buildings are proposed higher than 3 storeys. How would the development be accessed? The main vehicle access will be from Haviland Road and from a second stub on the same A38/A390 roundabout near the Liskeard Tavern. The country lane to Roseland and Menheniot will also be diverted through the Site and the existing junction with the A38 closed off. This is considered to be a safety benefit. A shared footway/cycleway will be extended from the entrance to the Site along the A390 to the Maudlin Farm (Morrison s) roundabout. A DHA Environment on behalf of Brook Street Properties page 4
Hard surfaced path angled down steep slope of Community Park. Main park area maintained as wildflower grassland with mown paths Stream along northern Site boundary Wedge of woodland planting with new hedges to either side Band of native species planting to soften edge of development area footway will also be provided on the western side of the road to improve access to/from the Bubble Retail Park. Links through the proposed parkland to meet up with an existing network of footpaths on land to the north of the Site. A390 New foot/cycleway Band of native species planting to soften edge of development area New hedgerow to enclose small open space Mown grass path through green corridor SuDS pond/swale Central green/ecology corridor based on existing Cornish hedge, with new planting and wildflower grassland Area for trim trail equipment Existing Cornish hedge retained It is also intended to improve public transport access to the Town Centre. Discussions with the Council are still on-going regarding the precise nature of the public transport links to the Site, meaning the exact details are unavailable at this stage. What will the park and other landscaping look like? Again, details will be finalised in a future application, but the public open spaces are being designed as areas of open space for people living and working on the site as well as existing residents living nearby. They will also provide an important drainage function for the development. An illustration of a possible landscape treatment is shown on this page. Entrance open space Existing SuDS feature enlarged to form permanent pond as an entrance feature Pedestrian link What are the alternatives to the Proposed Development? The Applicant and their design team have made numerous changes to the indicative plans during the design development process. This has taken account of consultation responses and the findings of the Environmental Impact Assessment process amongst other things. The Site is considered to be in a sustainable location for development. Pedestrian link Existing Cornish hedge with mature oak tree retained Illustrative masterplan showing how the site could be laid out LEAP When would the scheme be built? If planning permission is granted it is expected that the scheme will start in 2014. Construction would take place in phases over a period of around 10 years. DHA Environment on behalf of Brook Street Properties page 5
Impacts Assessed The EIA has assessed a range of potential environmental effects in accordance with a Scoping Opinion agreed with Cornwall Council. The findings of the assessment are summarised below. Further information on any of these topics can be found in the Environmental Statement: Main Report submitted with the planning application. Socio-Economic At the construction stage, the introduction of a construction workforce will have a minor beneficial effect by providing local employment. Once the development is completed, the provision of up to 550 residential units will have a long term, positive effect by addressing housing need and providing an appropriate mix of size, price, type and tenure of housing. The report concludes that the Proposed Development is likely to have a minor beneficial impact on residents of Cornwall and a moderate beneficial impact on residents of Liskeard in terms of housing provision. The proposal will have a moderate beneficial impact by providing new jobs for local people. It is predicted that the development will generate in the order of 432 net local jobs including those indirectly created (for example jobs arising from the increased demand for goods and services and employee expenditure). The additional population created would create demand for less than 1 G.P. and 1 dentist. The proposed Neighbourhood Centre has been designed to enable provision for healthcare services if sufficient demand exists and therefore the Proposed Development is expected to have a negligible effect on healthcare services. The Proposed Development would generate demand for up to 160 primary and secondary school places. There is sufficient capacity in the local secondary education system to meet this demand but there is currently insufficient capacity at primary stage. It is therefore proposed that a financial contribution is made to improve primary school capacity locally in which case there would be a negligible impact on education. A substantial amount of open space is being provided as part of the development which will be accessible to local residents. Overall this is considered to have a moderate beneficial impact. Ecology The site is mainly farmland at present with native Cornish hedge boundaries. There are no protected wildlife sites within a kilometre of the Site. Survey work identified some bat activity along the woodland edge and along hedgerows. 28 species of birds were recorded on site, with 10 species observed exhibiting nesting behaviour. There is no evidence of Dormice on Site but there are low numbers of Slow Worm and Common Lizard along the south west boundary. The loss of hedges from the site has been minimised and most retained hedges will be enhanced. New habitats will be created throughout the site. The proposed park which runs through the centre of the site will be designed to have a dark corridor suitable for Bats. Overall there will be some minor adverse effects as a result of loss of habitat from some hedge removal and the construction stage and the completed development will have some minor adverse effects as a result of increased noise and recreational pressure. However there are a number of significant beneficial effects from tree planting, creation and management of green space and habitat creation, particularly for reptiles. Transport Highway access to the proposed development will be gained via the existing stub of the A390/ Haviland Road roundabout. There are currently no footways leading from this roundabout to the Maudlin Farm (Morrisons) roundabout. New footway and cycle way links are proposed along the A390 to improve links to the town centre and the rest of the Liskeard urban area. DHA Environment on behalf of Brook Street Properties page 6
There are a number of existing bus services close to the site which service bus stops on Charter Way as well as the Morrisons food store. A full Traffic Assessment has been carried out which demonstrates that there will be a negligible impact from transport on all of the links and junctions in the local area. As a result there is no need to provide improvements to mitigate the traffic impact of the development. The country lane leading from the A38 to Roseland and Menheniot will be diverted through the site to join Haviland Road with the existing access to the A38 closed off. This is considered to be a safety benefit, as it will remove the need for vehicles to slow down in the main stream of traffic on the A38 or for cars to have to cross the central reservation. Noise Modelling was carried out to predict noise levels across the development area. Predicted noise levels were assessed using a worst case scenario, for example, assuming that the noisiest items of construction plant would be located at the closest points to nearby houses. Using measures to reduce noise to a minimum, the study concluded that there would be, at worst, a minor adverse impact on nearby houses from construction noise (although noise levels will remain within recommended limits) and no impact at all from construction vibration. Once the development has been completed there would be a negligible impact on nearby properties as a result of the residential development and a negligible impact from any additional road traffic generated by the development. Due to the potential for a broad range of industrial units on the site, including some light industrial, noise impacts from commercial premises would, at worst, be a minor adverse impact. Drainage and Flood Risk There is a stream running through the valley to the north of the site which flows from west to east before feeding into the River Seaton. The Environment Agency Flood Maps show that the site is not located in an area liable to flooding. The main risk of flooding at the site comes from surface water generated on the site itself. The areas near to the stream are at a higher risk of flooding, though these areas will remain unchanged by the proposals and fall outside the Site boundary. Appropriate control measures will need to be in place during the construction phase to ensure that un-controlled surface water run off does not present any risk to the local stream during the construction stage. A sustainable drainage scheme (SUDS) will control the rate of infiltration of surface water in order to prevent flooding and protect local watercourses. As a result no significant drainage or flood risk effects have been identified. Air Quality The air quality assessment used existing monitoring data provided by Cornwall Council in order to establish the existing conditions. Predicted traffic flows were used in order to calculate the increase in emissions that might result from the proposed development. Existing air quality standards on the site met all relevant air quality objectives. Concentrations of pollutants are highest closest to the boundary with the A38, but these are still comfortably within acceptable standards. The study considered the potential emissions resulting from dust from construction activities and exhaust emissions from construction plant. It also considered the impacts resulting from traffic generated by the proposed development. In DHA Environment on behalf of Brook Street Properties page 7
all cases, the effects on air quality resulting from the development are considered to be negligible. There could be a slight adverse impact, in a worst case scenario, on an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) in Tideford, approximately 10 kilometres south east of the site due to additional traffic using the A38. However the contribution to overall pollutant levels in the AQMA would be very small in the context of existing traffic levels through the area. Landscape & Visual Impact A full Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment has been undertaken. The majority of the site lies with Cornwall County Landscape Character Area 22 (South East Corner Plateau) which is characterised by an extensive sloping plateau intersected by river valleys with sparse tree cover which is mainly associated with Cornish hedges and around farms and buildings. The site is not covered by any national or local designations for landscape quality. Existing vegetation is to be retained wherever possible including most of the Cornish hedges within and around the site. The northern, steeply sloping part of the site will be laid out as a community park with paths for access and some new planting. Most of this area will be managed as wild flower grassland. A broad green corridor will be created through the centre of the site, following the line of the retained Cornish hedge. This area will include new planting, areas of grass for informal recreation, a trim trail, footpaths and a play area. It will also form an important ecological corridor. A new landscaped entrance feature will be provided at the roundabout entrance on the A390. This will incorporate an existing drainage pond, possibly opening it out to create a permanent water feature with appropriate planting. Along the A38 frontage there would be a broad strip of parkland style landscape alongside the road with a wide grass verge, low mounds and some tree planting creating an attractive green frontage which would allow views through to the new buildings beyond. This boundary could include elements of a Cornish hedge bank with a low stone wall facing the road. Other site boundaries would be appropriately landscaped with existing hedgerows strengthened and with some new tree planting. The Site is in the countryside but is adjacent to the existing urban area of Liskeard and also to the A38 dual carriageway. The majority of the site is open and in productive agricultural use although its character and views across it are affected by the retail park to the north west and by the recently built pub and hotel adjacent to the A38. The proposal is for a mixed use development involving buildings of two to three storeys in height with the taller buildings in the western and northern parts of the site. There would be a medium degree of landscape change as a result of the development although visibility of the new buildings and other features would be limited by the hilly nature of the area. At first there would be moderate adverse effects on the local landscape in winter. These would be at a lower level in summer and would decrease slowly over time. There would be up to moderate adverse visual effects for some properties in the urban area and for Tencreek Farm and some minor adverse effects for the properties at Island Shop to the west. There would also be adverse effects for users of public footpaths crossing the site and to a lesser degree for users of other footpaths to the north and east. DHA Environment on behalf of Brook Street Properties page 8
Archaeology & Cultural Heritage There are no World Heritage Sites, Registered Parks and Gardens or Registered Battlefields within the local area. There are no Scheduled Ancient Monuments within the Site. There are no Conservation Areas or listed buildings within the Site, although there are Listed Buildings nearby at Tencreek Farm and Tencreek Cottages. An archaeological assessment has been undertaken which shows that there will be no effect on buried archaeology as a result of the Proposed Development. Mitigation is proposed in the form of retaining existing hedge lines and reinforcing these with planted trees and site screens, and by providing a new planted site screen along the eastern side of the employment area. This will protect views from Tencreek Farm and will maintain the overall setting of the farm buildings within their existing context. Buildings within the southern part of the employment zone will be kept to two storeys in height with higher density three storey buildings confined to the northern part of the employment zone, reducing the effect of visual intrusion on the setting of Listed Buildings. With this mitigation strategy in place the overall effect on the setting of Listed Buildings will be negligible. Agricultural Land Nearly 24 hectares of the 26 hectare site is in agricultural use. The land forms part of a 162 hectare owner-occupied farm that has been managed by the same family since 1929. The land is farmed with arable and beef cattle, the main farm buildings being located at Tencreek Farm. The majority of the agricultural land within the application site is categorised as sub-grade 3b quality, with the remaining land within very poor quality grade 5. As a result no land categorised as best and most versatile agricultural land would be affected by the development and therefore the loss of lower quality agricultural land is considered to be of negligible significance. There would be a minor adverse effect on the farm business resulting from the reduction of around 15% of the farm area. However the capital released would enable the purchase of additional land in the area to expand the unit should that be possible. Cumulative Impacts Cumulative impacts (i.e. the combined effects of individual impacts, and the combined effects of more than one development proposal) have also been considered. In particular, the combined effects of the development with the proposed development at Addington has been considered. Tencreek Farm and certain local residential properties could experience cumulative impacts ranging from minor beneficial to minor adverse. The effects will vary from one property to another and depend on how close the properties are to proposed buildings, whether they will have a direct view of them, and the extent to which the proposed buildings generate noise. Adverse impacts may be balanced to some extent by benefits of the scheme including access to jobs, community facilities and open space. Residents of the development itself could experience cumulative effects if commercial premises were particularly noisy, but this would be outweighed by the benefits they would receive from modern housing and the open space creation. Cumulative effects are likely to be minor beneficial to negligible. DHA Environment on behalf of Brook Street Properties page 9
There would be adverse landscape effects on the local landscape, but when weighed against the beneficial effects of open space creation and tree planting, the cumulative effects would be negligible to minor adverse at worst. 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 Council s website: http://www.cornwall.gov.uk 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 send an email to: tencreek@dhaenvironment.co.uk DHA Environment on behalf of Brook Street Properties page 10