PEI Report Chapter 16 : Click Here
The environmental impact assessment (EIA) considers impacts during the construction and operation of the scheme. The construction phase assessment addresses both the temporary activities involved in building the scheme and the subsequent permanent presence of the scheme once constructed. The operational assessment considers the situation when the scheme is being used by traffic.
This section provides an overview of the preliminary findings relating to environmental impacts. The preliminary assessment is summarised in the table at the back of this non-technical summary.
During its construction, most of the proposed scheme’s potential adverse impacts would be avoided or reduced by the implementation of industry standard practice and control measures, which would be contained within an Environmental Management Plan (EMP).
Further work continues to be undertaken as part of the EIA process to confirm the preliminary findings presented below. The final assessment of environmental impacts will be presented in the ES that will be submitted with the Development Consent Order (DCO) application. The application will also include an outline EMP.
Cumulative effects
An assessment will be undertaken of potential cumulative effects arising from the following:
- proposed developments in the vicinity of the proposed scheme that are under construction or have been consented, combined with the effects of the proposed scheme; and
- combined effects from the proposed scheme on a single receptor from a number of individual environmental impacts, for example noise, dust and traffic.
Cumulative effects with other developments A preliminary review of the planning applications and allocations within the area around the proposed scheme has been undertaken to identify any other developments which may result in a cumulative effect together with the proposed scheme, which is a greater, new or different significant effect than would result from the proposed scheme on its own. The search area for these other developments was the largest combined area based on the likely distances from which developments could influence each environmental topic.
The cumulative effects will be assessed when the conclusions of individual environmental factor assessments have been reached and reported. Therefore, cumulative effects are not reported in the PEI report, but will be assessed and reported in the Environmental Statement (ES).
Combined effects on a single receptor Combined impacts are from the action of a number of different impacts upon a single resource/receptor and are considered within the environmental factor chapters of the PEI report.
The results of this provisional assessment do not indicate that any additional mitigation measures are required. A full combined effects assessment will be included within the environmental factor chapters of the ES.
Preliminary assessment of likely significant effects
Based on the preliminary assessment, the scale and location of the proposed scheme means that several different aspects of the environment would potentially be affected. Some of these effects would occur during construction, and other impacts would occur during operation. Table 16-1 provides a high-level summary of these effects: