Report

The Woodsmith Project - S73 Project Amendments : Planning Statement

not result in unacceptable adverse impacts on air quality and that any effects identified are either negligible or appropriately addressed through further ecological assessment.

Traffic and Transport

Policy CO2 of the NYM Local Plan requires that development will only be permitted where the scale of development can be accommodated by the adjacent highway network without detriment to highway safety. Policy D03 of the North Yorkshire Minerals and Waste Joint Plan similarly requires that, where practicable, minerals movements should utilise alternatives to road transport, including rail, water, pipeline or conveyor. Where road transport is necessary, proposals will be permitted where there is sufficient capacity within the existing highway network and where the nature, volume and routing of traffic would not give rise to unacceptable impacts on local communities, businesses or other highway users, or where such impacts can be appropriately mitigated. Proposals generating significant levels of traffic are required to be supported by a Transport Assessment and Green Travel Plan. Chapter 10 of the SES assesses the potential transport effects arising from the proposed amendments to the currently Approved Development. In accordance with Policy D03, a Transport Assessment and Travel Plan are appended to Chapter 10. The assessment confirms that the proposed amendments at Ladycross Plantation and Lockwood Beck have been appropriately scoped out of detailed assessment, as they would not give rise to materially different traffic effects when compared with the approved baseline. Indeed, the removal of permanent waste facilities at Lockwood Beck and Ladycross Plantation – as well as the removal of Tocketts Lythe site in its entirety - reduces the associated potential construction movements. Forecast changes in traffic demand have been derived using a first-principles methodology, informed by updated material quantities and workforce numbers associated with both the construction and operational phases. The resultant traffic flows have been assigned to the defined Traffic and Transport Study Area (TTSA) and assessed with embedded mitigation measures incorporated to minimise potential impacts. In accordance with relevant national guidance, a TTSA has been established, baseline conditions defined, and traffic-sensitive receptors identified. The study area was screened to determine those routes potentially affected by changes in traffic flows associated with the construction and operation of the Approved Development. Twelve highway links within the TTSA have been assessed against the relevant EIA criteria, including pedestrian severance and delay, amenity, fear and intimidation, road safety and driver delay. Following the application of mitigation measures, the residual impacts during both the construction and operational phases are assessed as not significant in EIA terms. Since construction commenced in 2017, receptors within the TTSA have experienced an average of approximately 80 HGV movements per day, with occasional peaks up to consented levels. These flows are now established features of the baseline environment. Monitoring demonstrates that the highway network has accommodated these movements effectively and continues to operate satisfactorily.

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Additional mitigation measures are proposed, where necessary, to manage HGV movements along Links 3 and 4 during the construction phase (Scenario 2). These

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