Dear Rebecca Lush

Thank you for your request relating to M60 junction 18 Simister Island
Interchange - environmental assessment dated 11 December 2021. 

The due date for issuing a response is 12 January 2022.

Please feel free to contact our team if you have any queries quoting
FOI/2940 in any future communications

Kind regards

Amanda Speight

FOI Advice

You can make new FOI requests and review published responses by
visiting [1]https://foiform.highwaysengland.co.uk/

References

Visible links
1. https://foiform.highwaysengland.co.uk/

Dear Rebecca Lush

M60 junction 18 Simister Island Interchange - environmental assessment

Thank you for your information request dated 11/12/2021 regarding M60
junction 18 Simister Island Interchange - environmental assessment. We
have dealt with your request under the provisions of the Environmental
Information Regulation 2004.

This is because the information requested concerns measures and activities
affecting or likely to affect elements of the environment or affect
factors such as noise, pollution discharges and other releases into the
environment.

You asked -

Please could you send me via What Do They Know (and publish on the scheme
page on your website) the Environmental Assessment Report (EAR) for the
M60 junction 18 Simister Island Interchange.

If the EAR has not yet been produced, please can you send me any carbon
assessment that has been done on the preferred route.

We can confirm that we hold the information you have requested.

Information withheld

You may be aware, we have been working on the preliminary design of the
scheme since the Northern Loop was announced as the Preferred Route in
January 2021. Our plans have developed to a point where we would like to
consult key stakeholders and the public about how we are proposing to
improve junction 18, as well as our proposed environmental mitigation
measures and emerging construction plans. At this stage of the project,
the Environmental Assessment Report has not yet been fully produced.
However, the scheme has recently produced the Preliminary Environmental
Information Report. We will be publishing this report on our scheme
webpage when or consultation launches. Our scheme webpage can be found at
[1]https://nationalhighways.co.uk/our-work/....
 We plan to submit our application for a Development Consent Order in
Summer 2022, at which time a full Environmental Impact Assessment in the
form of an Environmental statement, will form part of the application.

While we were initially aiming to launch a public consultation from 10
January 2022 to seek your views and feedback on our proposals, we need to
do some further reviews which means we will have to reschedule our planned
consultation. We want to ensure that you are kept up to date, and we
expect to come back to you with a further update on the project and
associated public consultation soon.

Therefore, the information requested has been withheld under exception in
[2]Regulation 12(4)(d) of the Environmental Information Regulation 2004
because it is material which is still in the course of completion, to
unfinished documents or to incomplete data.

In applying this exception, we have had to balance the public interest in
withholding the information against the public interest in disclosure. The
key public interest factors for and against disclosure are attached.

We have however provided a copy of the information from Stage 2, which is
attached to this response.

If you are not satisfied with your response you may ask for an internal
review within 40 working days of receiving the response, by replying to
this email. You can learn more about the internal review process [3]here.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
[4][email address]

            Information Commissioner’s Office

            Wycliffe House

            Water Lane

            Wilmslow

            Cheshire

            SK9 5AF

Please remember to quote reference number FOI/2940 in any future
communications about this response.

Kind regards

M60 J18 Simister Island Interchange Team

You can make new FOI requests and review published responses by
visiting [5]https://foiform.highwaysengland.co.uk/

References

Visible links
1. https://nationalhighways.co.uk/our-work/...
2. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2004...
3. https://highwaysengland.co.uk/media/a14h...
4. mailto:[email address]
5. https://foiform.highwaysengland.co.uk/