The Wimbledon Stadium Development - IEMA · PDF fileEnvironmental Statement –...

On behalf of Galliard Homes Ltd, GRAA Ltd, AFC Wimbledon

Project Ref: 21533/026 | Rev: 03 | Date: November 2014

Office Address: Caversham Bridge House, Waterman Place, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 8DN T: 0118 950 0761 www.peterbrett.com

The Wimbledon Stadium Development Environmental Statement

Volume 3: Non-Technical Summary (NTS)

Environmental Statement – Non-Technical Summary The Wimbledon Stadium Development

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Document Control Sheet Project Name: The Wimbledon Stadium Development Project Ref: 21533

Report Title: Environmental Statement – Non Technical Summary

Doc Ref: 21533-026 Date: 19 November 2014

Name Position Initials Date

Prepared by: Eva Hansen Assistant

Environmental Scientist

EH 9 October 2014

Reviewed by: Jenny Allen Associate JA 9 October 2014

Approved by: Paul Jenkin Partner PJ 9 October 2014

For and on behalf of Peter Brett Associates LLP

Revision Date Description Prepared Reviewed Approved

01 July 2014 Draft EH JA - 02 October Final EH JA PJ 03 November Final V2 EH JA PJ

Peter Brett Associates LLP disclaims any responsibility to the Client and others in respect of any matters outside the scope of this report. This report has been prepared with reasonable skill, care and diligence within the terms of the Contract with the Client and generally in accordance with the appropriate ACE Agreement and taking account of the manpower, resources, investigations and testing devoted to it by agreement with the Client. This report is confidential to the Client and Peter Brett Associates LLP accepts no responsibility of whatsoever nature to third parties to whom this report or any part thereof is made known. Any such party relies upon the report at their own risk. © Peter Brett Associates LLP 2014


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Contents

Introduction .............................................................................................. 1 Context and Contact Details .............................................................. 1

About the Site the Development Proposal ............................................ 2 The Site ......................................................................................... 2 The Development Proposal ............................................................... 4 Sensitive Receptors potentially affected by the Scheme................... 6

Alternatives .............................................................................................. 7 The Likely Significant Effects................................................................. 8

Air Quality ......................................................................................... 8 Noise & Vibration ............................................................................... 8 Transport & Access ............................................................................ 9 Hydrology and Flood Risk ................................................................ 10 Land and Water Quality ................................................................... 11 Townscape and Visual Impacts ....................................................... 12 Daylight and Sunlight ....................................................................... 12 Socio-economic Impacts .................................................................. 13 Cumulative Effects & Impact Interactions ........................................ 14

Figures

Figure 1: Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium and Car Park, View from Plough Lane. ............................................................................................................. 1

Figure 2: London Borough of Merton (green) in relation to the Greater London Boroughs with inset showing location of Development Site (in Red) in London Borough of Merton and adjacent to London Borough of Wandsworth. ................................................................................................ 2

Figure 3: Redline Boundary of the Development Site and Local Setting (not to scale). ....................................................................................................... 3

Figure 4: Design of the proposed apartment blocks. An example of the walls of the stadium is illustrated to the left. ................................................. 4

Figure 5: Plan of the Development Proposal (for indicative purposes only). ...................................................................................................................... 5

Figure 6: Illustration of the proposed Stadium as seen from the North. ...... 6

Figure 7: Example of wholly residential scheme considered as an alternative for the development site. ............................................................ 7

Figure 8: Residential Layout Alternatives. .................................................... 7

Figure 9: Traffic at Plough Lane/ Summerstown junction is currently the main cause of noise. .................................................................................... 8

Figure 10: Rail and Underground Stations near the Site (Plan Extract). ..... 9

Figure 11: Diagram of Dual Entry lift illustrating the raised ground floors. . 11

Figure 12: The Wimbledon Stadium Development sketched in as seen from Plough Lane, looking North-east. ....................................................... 12

Figure 13: The Overshadowing of homes at 99 Summerstown will be unnoticeable to residents. .......................................................................... 13

Figure 14: Most Fans of the AFC Wimbledon are local residents in the London Borough of Merton and Wandsworth ............................................ 14


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Introduction Context and Contact Details

An Environmental Impact Assessment has been undertaken to support a Hybrid Planning Application for a proposed Football Stadium and mixed-use development on the site of the existing Greyhound Stadium and adjacent car park in Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton (see Fig. 1 below and Fig. 2 overleaf). The development proposal is a joint project of Galliard Homes Ltd, GRAA Ltd and AFC Wimbledon (‘the developers’). Peter Brett Associates have been commissioned to coordinate the Environmental Impact Assessment. This document provides a summary of the findings of the Environmental Impact Assessment in non-technical English (as set out in Article 5 of Directive 85/337/EEC). Its purpose is to provide members of the public with sufficient information to understand the significant environmental effects of the proposed development without having to refer to the main text of the Environmental Statement.

Drawings, Figures and plans in this document are for illustrative purposes only and therefore may not be to scale. Accurate drawings for technical assessments are included in the Appendices of the Environmental Statement. To obtain further electronic copies of this Non-Technical Summary free of charge, please contact:

Peter Brett Associates Caversham Bridge House Waterman Place Reading RG 1 8DN Phone: 0118 950 0761 E-mail: [email protected]

Figure 1: Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium and Car Park, View from Plough Lane.


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About the Site the Development Proposal The Site

The site is located in the London Borough of Merton (see Fig. 2) and occupies an area of approximately 5.1 hectares located on the grounds of the Wimbledon (Greyhound) Stadium at the corner of Plough Lane and Summerstown Road (B235). As well as the Greyhound Stadium, there is also a squash club and a vehicle service centre on the site. The car park is also used regularly for car boot sales.

Figure 2: London Borough of Merton (green) in relation to the Greater London Boroughs with inset showing location of Development Site (in Red) in London Borough of Merton and adjacent to London Borough of Wandsworth.


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The current Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium lies in a predominately commercial and industrial area with the nearest, larger residential area located to the east. In close proximity to the site are several large retailers, including various car dealerships and a Curry's store, with a Pets at Home, Carpet Right and Wickes with associated car parking located along Plough Lane.

Summerstown Road comprises predominantly light industrial uses opposite the site and adjacent to the Stadium car park. Lambeth Crematorium is located opposite to the site on Plough Lane and a large National Grid electricity sub-station forms the western boundary of the site. Fig. 3 shows the redline boundary of the site.

Figure 3: Redline Boundary of the Development Site and Local Setting (not to scale).


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The Development Proposal

The proposed development comprises the demolition of all existing buildings and the comprehensive redevelopment of the site for a new football stadium with associated hospitality, 602 residential units, a relocated squash and fitness club, small supermarket (1,273 sqm).

The new residential units are arranged in three apartment blocks of 6 to 10 storeys (see Fig. 4 below), with basement parking and refuse stores.

The football stadium will be a modern facility with hospitality areas, offices and function rooms (see Fig. 5 overleaf for a plan of the development proposal).

Figure 4: Design of the proposed apartment blocks. An example of the walls of the stadium is illustrated to the left.


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Figure 5: Plan of the Development Proposal (for indicative purposes only).


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The football stadium will eventually provide 20,000 seats with hospitality facilities and visitor and coach parking.

The stadium will be built in two phases. An ‘interim’ stadium of 11,000 seat capacity will be built in phase 1 together with the residential units, the retail store and the squash club.

The stadium will later be extended to 20,000 seats and completed with the hospitality facilities.

The detailed design of the proposed football stadium is yet to be determined (planning permission is sought for an outline proposal of this part of the scheme). An illustrative drawing of the Stadium as seen from the North side is shown in Fig. 6.

Sensitive Receptors potentially affected by the Scheme

A receptor is considered to be anything in the immediate built and social environment of the development site that may be affected by the proposed scheme once completed, both in a good or a bad way. This may include e.g. people, wildlife or businesses. A sensitive receptor will

be affected by the scheme if its function prior to the development is altered. If this is the case, mitigation measures (see Section Likely Significant Effects) have to be put in place to enable the sensitive receptor to function as closely as possible to its previous level. The most significantly affected sensitive receptors identified during the assessment of Wimbledon Stadium Development include: local residents and businesses, motorists, cyclists, and bats.

Figure 6: Illustration of the proposed Stadium as seen from the North.


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Alternatives The Planning and Design of the Development Proposal was carried out in a continuous process that took several years. During this time, several design and use alternatives were discussed, tested, overthrown or amended concerning aspects such as planning policy, viability, design quality, market requirements and site constraints as well as opportunities and environmental effects.

Figure 7: Example of wholly residential scheme considered as an alternative for the development site.

Regarding different uses of the site, the alternatives included the option of wholly flats (see Fig. 7), or developing flats and retail facilities. However, the London Borough of Merton planning provisions require any

development on site to include a stadium and therefore, these options were not brought forward.

Alternative design proposals included the consideration of different layouts as well as different use ratios including various sizes of the stadium, supermarket and number or flats (see Fig. 8).

Figure 8: Residential Layout Alternatives.

The final proposal was found to be the best possible alternative providing the opportunity to re-accommodate the squash club, and including a separate entrance for the stadium, thus providing privacy and communal open space to the new residents.

The Environmental Impact Assessment also involved the consideration of alternative locations for the development proposal. For AFC Wimbledon it was essential for the new stadium to be located within its home, Wimbledon. However, no suitable alternative sites within Wimbledon were noted to be available or likely to become accessible in the near future for a suitably sized football stadium to be constructed.


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The Likely Significant Effects Air Quality

Information on existing air quality was obtained by collating the results of monitoring carried out by the London Borough of Merton. Background concentrations for the site were defined using the recently updated national pollution maps published by Defra. The concentrations of air pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide and certain particles (PM10 and PM2.5) were modelled for a baseline year of 2012 and 2017 as the anticipated year of completion of the Wimbledon Stadium Development.

During demolition and construction the main potential effects are dust annoyance and locally elevated concentrations of the particle PM10, depending on surface characteristics, weather conditions and site activities. Further pollution may occur due to increased construction traffic.

During operation of the development, the likely effects include an increase in pollution concentration in relation to increased traffic and a new, gas-fired energy centre to be established on site in order to supply heat to the proposed flats.

Adverse effects during construction can be mitigated e.g. by spraying spoil heaps to minimise dust and fully loading and covering lorries before they leave site to minimize traffic generation and dust dispersion. These and other measures will be described in a Construction Environmental Management Plan to ensure they are implemented during construction.

The energy centre has been designed and positioned in a way that it will not cause any significant increases in emissions that could affect the well-being of any sensitive receptors. The operation of the energy centre and road traffic when the development is completed will not cause an exceedence of the national and local policy objectives. The assessment concludes that with the described mitigation measures in place, all the

above described effects will be negligible, i.e. they will not give rise to any health concerns or unacceptable annoyance.

Noise & Vibration

The existing noise and vibration levels were established in several surveys lasting up to 7 days in November 2013. The measuring points along the road links immediately surrounding the site were previously agreed with the Environmental Health Officer of the London Borough of Merton. A noise survey was also carried out at a comparably sized football stadium in order to predict potential noise disturbance on local residents during match times.

The site is situated in a busy, urban environment; the current noise environment is dominated by road traffic from Plough Lane and Summerstown Road (see Fig. 9).

Figure 9: Traffic at Plough Lane/ Summerstown junction is currently the main cause of noise.


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Potential significant effects during construction can result from construction traffic, the operation of construction plant and machinery. Noise disturbance from construction activities will be temporary and a Construction Environmental Management Plan will set out measures such as no night-time working, to keep noise disturbance as little and brief as possible.

During operation, the main effect on local residents is the potential noise disturbance on days of events at the Stadium. Double glazing and special ventilation (acoustic trickle vents) in the flats will help to protect residents from outdoor noise. With these measures, the assessment concluded that noise levels in adjacent flats are expected to be at a level where conversation can be carried out with windows closed on event days. This conforms to national standards and policy and considered to be acceptable, given that football matches and other activities will only take place occasionally and for short periods.

Transport & Access

The site is well served by buses from stops located on Plough Lane, immediately on the southern frontage of the site, on Garratt Lane, within a two-minute walk from the north east corner of the site and on Gap Road, approximately an eight-minute walk from the site with up to 35 services per hour leaving in each direction. There are also several Underground and Railway Stations nearby (see Fig. 10) with Haydon’s Road Station being the closest over-ground station at approximately 700m south of the site.

Assessments have been undertaken to identify the transport-related effects of the proposed development during the construction and operational phase for match and non-match days.

The construction assessment has shown that construction vehicle movements will be very low. It has been estimated that during the busiest period approximately 15 two-way HGV trips per hour will be added onto the road network. This low volume represents a net reduction in trips

compared to the current number or vehicles entering and exiting the existing car park.

Figure 10: Rail and Underground Stations near the Site (Plan Extract).

The operational assessment has shown that driver delay is likely to increase slightly at the Plough Lane / Haydon’s Road / Gap Road /


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Durnford Road junction and the Plough Lane / Summerstown / Wimbledon Road and Wimbledon Road / Blackshaw Road double roundabout. The assessment has shown that these junctions are already operating over capacity and with long queues and delays; hence the additional discomfort for drivers due to the Wimbledon Stadium Development is only expected to by minor.

For match days, the use of public transport will be spread over a number of stations, rather than one single station (see Fig. 10). Therefore it is expected that crowding is only likely to occur on the northern footway of Plough Lane, the new footway on Riverside Road and the footways on Summerstown, between Riverside Road and Garratt Lane.

Road and link improvements have been proposed to improve accessibility of the Wimbledon Stadium Development and minimize delays. Measures include e.g. footway widening and re-surfacing along Summerstown, Riverside Road and parts of Plough Lane as well as proposals to remark the Haydon’s Road approach to show both lanes as being available to northbound traffic.

A Travel Plan has been produced for the Wimbledon Stadium Development to show the best possible ways for accessing the site including means of public transport, on foot or by private vehicle.

The overall assessment concludes that the Wimbledon Stadium Development will not lead to an increased risk of accidents nor impact road safety and the new pedestrian links and road improvements that form part of the proposal will minimize crowding and driver delays.

Hydrology and Flood Risk

The River Wandle is located approximately 130m west of the site and flows in a south to north direction. It is designated by the Environment Agency to be a ‘Primary River’. The site itself lies within the Wandle Valley Floodplain.

The Site is located in Flood Zone 3 ‘high probability’ with a 1 in 100 (1%) annual probability of flooding from rivers or the sea. The EA hydraulic modelling of the River Wandle in the area suggests that part of the Site is located within the 1 in 20 (5%) annual probability floodplain, however there is no record of the Site flooding from the River Wandle since 1968, as such the risk to the Site is considered to be lower than the modelling suggests.

A Flood Risk Assessment has been prepared in accordance with the NPPF which provides an assessment of flood risk to the Site and demonstrates that future occupants of the Site will be safe from flooding and the Proposed Development will not increase flood risk elsewhere.

Two Surface Water drainage strategies have been prepared for the Development in accordance with the principles set out in the LBM Core Strategy Local Development Framework and The London Plan. These provide facilities for the storage of surface water on Site and restricted discharge to the Thames Water surface water sewer network. The systems have been designed up to a 1 in 100 year (1%) annual probability rainfall event, including a margin for potential increases in rainfall intensity and duration as a result of climate change and include measures for pollution control. This provides a substantial improvement compared to the existing drainage regime and will serve to reduce the risk of flooding from surface water at the Site.

All of the residential accommodation is located on raised podium structures with ground floors raised above the different magnitude flood levels at the Site. This will ensure that the residential accommodation is not at risk from the different magnitude flood events (See Fig. 11 overleaf). The podium structure will include flood resilient measures to ensure that the residential units remain functional during a flood event.

The undercroft car parking located under the podium structures includes void openings around the perimeter to allow flood water to enter the car parking during different magnitude flood events. This will ensure that appropriate levels of flood plain storage are maintained across the Site following the Proposed Development.


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Figure 11: Diagram of Dual Entry lift illustrating the raised ground floors.

A Flood Emergency Plan (FEP) will be prepared for the Site, which provides details to future occupants of the measures to take before, during and after a flood event. The FEP will be prepared in liaison with the Emergency Planners at the LBM and distributed to residents. This forms part of the mitigation measures for the change in land use that brings more people into the floodplain resulting in a minor adverse effect.

The Stadium Emergency Evacuation Procedure will include details of the appropriate measures to take in the unlikely event that a Flood Warning is issued for the River Wandle in the area immediately prior to or during an event at the stadium. Crowd movement modelling has been undertaken by the stadium architects which demonstrates that a capacity crowd of 20,000 people can be quickly evacuated in the unlikely occurrence of such an event.

A Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) will be prepared for the Site which will serve to mitigate against the potential minor adverse effects to surface water through construction activity at the Site.

Land and Water Quality

The ground underneath the development site consists mainly of clay and silt, in parts also of sand and gravel. There is a minor risk of contamination due to ground gases, hydrocarbons and asbestos, however a detailed investigation will be carried out prior to commencement or any ground condition works to confirm this.

The main risk resulting from contaminated land during construction is the potential leaching of contaminants from soil into the groundwater as well as exposure of construction workers to contaminants. The risk of effects on workers health and safety will be minimized through a detailed investigation of the ground conditions prior to commencement of construction and through normal hygiene and specification of appropriate protective clothing and equipment, if required.

Currently the site is used for leisure and professional activities as well as car parking. On completion of the Wimbledon Stadium Development, people will be permanently living on the site. This means that additional care needs to be taken to minimize risks of contamination because people will be exposed longer to potential health hazards, thus increasing their risk to be affected by contaminants such as hydrocarbons or vapours which could enter the water supply. An intrusive investigation will be carried out to identify contaminated areas and, if found, measures will be introduced to eliminate exposure pathways and break the pollutant linkage.

An appropriate piling technique will be adopted to minimise the potential for piled foundations to act as preferential contaminant migration pathways into groundwater or people’s homes.

With the recommended measures in place, it is considered that even if the intrusive investigation results in the identification of ground contamination


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or hazardous gases, exposure of such contaminants to groundwater or workers or users of the Wimbledon Stadium Development can be avoided.

Townscape and Visual Impacts

The townscape and visual impacts assessment involved a visual inspection of 19 representative views towards the site in a radius of 760m around the future Wimbledon Stadium Development.

The current Greyhound Stadium is generally visible only within the immediate vicinity. Due to its urban setting and mostly flat topography, the views towards the site are widely screened by other buildings. The site itself currently provides little amenity, the existing buildings and stadium are in poor condition, the car park is a large area of hard standing with no soft landscaping or other ambience features.

Figure 12: The Wimbledon Stadium Development sketched in as seen from Plough Lane, looking North-east.

The Wimbledon Stadium Development will be most notably visible from Haydons Road Railway Bridge, Plough Lane (see Fig. 12), Blackshaw Road/Smallwood Road, St. Martin’s Way Riverside Road Junction, Lambeth Cemetery as well as several points on Garratt Lane. The view from Lambeth Cemetery is partially screened by tall, leafy trees.

In terms of visual amenity on and immediately around the site, the Wimbledon Stadium Development will enhance the townscape character and public realm by introducing modern designs, new green spaces, trees and link ways across the site.

Daylight and Sunlight

The daylight and sunlight assessment was carried out to establish how the Wimbledon Stadium Development’s shadows will prevent sunlight or daylight from lighting people’s homes, both within the Wimbledon Stadium Development and in existing neighbouring properties, in particular 99 Summerstown Road and the upper levels of the Corner Pin Pub.

The current car park on the site provides open space which allows adjacent homes to receive relatively high levels of daylight and sunlight for an inner city environment.

The majority of the windows at the upper levels of the Corner Pin Pub building will have noticeable reductions of daylight and sunlight incidence compared to existing lighting conditions. However, keeping in mind that the majority of the property is not used as a residence and the existing light conditions are unusually high for an urban setting, this reduction in light incidence is considered to be acceptable.

For 99 Summerstown (see Fig. 13 overleaf), the reduction in daylight and sunlight incidence as a result of the completed Wimbledon Stadium Development will be unnoticeable to residents and the light levels will meet current standards.


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Figure 13: The Overshadowing of homes at 99 Summerstown will be unnoticeable to residents.

Heritage Assets

An archaeological desk-based assessment was undertaken to identify potential effects on archaeological and heritage assets on and near the site. The assessment included such assets within a radius of 1km of the site.

In terms of designated heritage assets, no World Heritage Sites, Scheduled Ancient Monuments or Historic Battlefield designations lie within the study site or within its immediate vicinity. The site lies in an Archaeological Priority Area which covers the Copper Mill Lane area and also lies to the immediate north-east of the Wandle Valley / Copper Mill Lane Conservation Area.

There is a small potential for Roman remains to be buried in the grounds of the site and there may also be Post-Medieval watercress beds. A

programme of archaeological investigation can be undertaken before or at commencement of construction works to identify and, if applicable, record those findings before construction continues. However, it is likely that past development of the site, namely the construction of the stadium in the 1920s, is likely to have destroyed most of these archaeological features.

Socio-economic Impacts

The socio-economic assessment considered potential effects in the area of the London Boroughs of Wandsworth and Merton which surround the development site and therefore, are likely to capture future users of the site as well as the majority of the potential fan base of AFC Wimbledon (see Fig. 14 overleaf).

The assessment was focused on a review of the current demographic and economic situation of this area and on evaluating how these aspects will be affected by the Wimbledon Stadium Development in the future. The population in Merton consists of a higher proportion of migrants and has average income and educational levels with lower unemployment rates than in the rest of London.

The number and economic profitability of the different activities carried out at the Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium were identified to have decreased particularly over the last decade, leading to the under-utilization of this main business on the site. Greyhound racing is also generally in decline at national level, whilst the AFC Wimbledon finds a large number of local fans supporting the proposal of returning to Wimbledon.

The AFC currently plays at Kingsmeadow in a stadium of less than 5,000 seats capacity. The average size of stadia at tier 4, the AFC’s professional football level, is 10,000. The club has grown significantly in recent years and is likely to require an even larger stadium in the near future, hence the Development includes the potential to increase stadium capacity from 11,000 to 20,000 seats.


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Overall, the identified significant effects in economic terms were assessed to be mainly beneficial.

Figure 14: Most Fans of the AFC Wimbledon are local residents in the London Borough of Merton and Wandsworth

The development proposal will lead to the creation of new jobs both during construction and operation of the Wimbledon Stadium Development. However, the other businesses on site such as the café, car boot sale and the car servicing centre will have to close down as a result of the

development proposal. These establishments will be compensated and will receive assistance in finding alternative locations to carry on with their business.

Cumulative Effects & Impact Interactions

The assessment of cumulative effects involves the consideration of other construction sites or new developments which may lead to environmental effects that could be more extreme if considered in combination with the effects caused by the Wimbledon Stadium Development. For example, two construction sites at the same time in the same neighbourhood requiring several temporary road closures which could lead to increased congestion and therefore, increased air pollution.

The Nelson Hospital is located 1.7km to the south west of the site and will be redeveloped in due course. This project was considered in terms of cumulative effects regarding all environmental topics described in this document; however, the assessment concluded that it is not likely that there will be any unavoidable cumulative effect.

Additionally, the Springfield University Hospital was considered in the Transport assessment in terms of potential cumulative effects.

Impact interactions result when one identified impact may influence (or interact with) others and hence increase other effects. For instance, if traffic increases as a result of a proposed development, this could also lead to increased levels of air pollution and noise disturbance.

Impact interactions were considered in terms of traffic, noise and air, and are included in the results presented in the respective sections in this document, however no significant effects were identified.

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