The carbon cost of the North West Road and its environmental impact

The request was partially successful.

Dear Shropshire Council,

On 1 September Cllr Peter Nutting sent an email to supporters of the Road To Ruin campaign who had emailed the council with their concerns about the North West Road planned for Shrewsbury in 2021.

In the email Cllr Nutting mentioned that there would be an Environmental Impact Assessment and Carbon Assessment (construction and future use) for the NWR plans.

1. Please supply a copy of this EIA and Carbon Assessment. If they are not yet available please say when they will be.

Cllr Nutting also said that alternatives to building a relief road have been considered.

2. I would like to see the documentation/reports showing this analysis of how all the alternate schemes compare to the NWR plans. If these are not available please explain why. If these do not exist please say so.

3. I would also like to see the council's analysis of the carbon impact of these various schemes versus the carbon impact of the NWR in order to be assured that the NWR is the best solution in terms of carbon emissions (both embedded in its construction and in terms of traffic use). If this information is not available please explain why.

If one part of the FOI request can be answered sooner than others, please send that information first followed by any subsequent data. If you need further clarification, please contact me by email.

I understand that under the act I am entitled to a response within 20 working days. I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing (by email) that you have received this request.

Yours faithfully,

Jamie Russell

FOI, Shropshire Council

Dear Mr Russell

 

Thank you for your request for information received on 16/10/2020.  We are
currently processing your request in accordance with the relevant
legislation.

Your request is for copies of the Environmental Impact Assessment and
Carbon Assessment for the North West Relief Road.

* This is a summary only and full details have been sent to the team
providing the response.
* If you feel the information is inaccurate or requires amendment,
please notify us as soon as possible using the contact details
provided below. 

 
Please note:
 
The Council has been facing unprecedented challenges this year. Firstly,
in response to the flooding in February and now in responding to the
coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. During this time, resources may have to
be diverted away from usual compliance or information rights work. The
council acknowledges that it can’t extend statutory timescales of requests
and everyone is doing their best to meet these. However, priority may have
to be given to other areas, eg the safeguarding of vulnerable people,
during this extraordinary period.
The Information Commissioner’s Office has blogged about their approach to
requests during this time: [1]blog
 
The Information Commissioner’s Office has released a statement about Data
Protection and the Coronavirus here: [2]statement

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

Information Governance Team

Shropshire Council

Shirehall

Abbey Foregate

SHREWSBURY

SY2 6ND

 

Tel:                  01743 252179 / 252774 / 252747

Email:             [Shropshire Council request email]

Web:               [3]www.shropshire.gov.uk/access-to-information

 

 

 

[4]For information about Coronavirus click here/image below
[5][IMG]

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/news-an...
2. https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
3. http://www.shropshire.gov.uk/access-to-i...
4. https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
5. https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

Mark Barrow, Shropshire Council

Good evening

 

Please see the following in relation to your  FOI Request:

 

 

 1. Please supply a copy of this EIA and Carbon Assessment. If they are
not yet available please say when they will be.

 

The EIA and Carbon assessment of the NWRR scheme will be completed and put
in the public domain at the time of a full planning Application
submission. This is currently programmed for spring 2021.

 

Cllr Nutting also said that alternatives to building a relief road have
been considered.

 

 2. I would like to see the documentation/reports showing this analysis of
how all the alternate schemes compare to the NWR plans. If these are
not available please explain why. If these do not exist please say so.

 

Alternatives to building a relief road have been considered, including
improvements to bus services, improvements to Park and Ride, improvements
to the walking and cycling networks and demand management, such as road
pricing. However, the results showed that these means alone would not
produce the benefits equal to those which could be achieved by building
the NWRR. Alternative routes for the relief road have also been considered
before the council made its selection of the preferred route.

Further information on these alternatives can be found in the Outline
Business Case (s.2.13) ;
[1]https://www.shropshire.gov.uk/media/8939...

 

 3. I would also like to see the council's analysis of the carbon impact
of these various schemes versus the carbon impact of the NWR in order
to be assured that the NWR is the best solution in terms of carbon
emissions (both embedded in its construction and in terms of  traffic
use). If this information is not available please explain why.

 

A Carbon Assessment Analysis of the NWRR, construction and use, will be
available at the point of Full Planning Application submission (See 1.)

 

 

Regards

 

Mark Barrow

Director of Place

 

 

show quoted sections

Dear Shropshire Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Shropshire Council's handling of my FOI request 'The carbon cost of the North West Road and its environmental impact'.

While I am grateful for Professor Barrow's response, I do not feel it answers my questions. I write in particular to parts 2&3 of my request.

2. In order to fulfil my request, I need to know what is meant by "improvements to bus services, improvements to Park and Ride, improvements
to the walking and cycling networks and demand management, such as road
pricing". Can these be explained with supporting g documents please. Presumably each was examined in detail and reports drawn up.

3. I asked for carbon analyses of the various alternative schemes in order to compare them with the carbon report that will be made public at the planning stage for the road. Presumably these carbon analyses already exist, so I do not understand why they are not supplied in the reply. Could you explain please?

With regards

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/t...

Yours faithfully,

Jamie Russell

Information.Request, Shropshire Council

Dear Mr Russell

Thank you for your email. We will arrange for an Internal Review of your request to be carried out.

Yours sincerely

Information Governance Team
Shropshire Council
Shirehall
Abbey Foregate
SHREWSBURY
SY2 6ND

Telephone: 01743 252179
Email: [Shropshire Council request email]

show quoted sections

Tom Mullen, Shropshire Council

Dear Mr Russell,

 

Thank you for your email requesting an internal review following receipt
of your FOI response. I can confirm that a review has now been conducted
and further information can be provided to you in answer to your two
questions below. Please find below our response to the questions and the
information relevant to each:

 

2. In order to fulfil my request, I need to know what is meant by
"improvements to bus services, improvements to Park and Ride, improvements
to the walking and cycling networks and demand management, such as road
pricing". Can these be explained with supporting g documents please.
Presumably each was examined in detail and reports drawn up.

 

Response

 

The detail around the options appraisal (undertaken at Outline Business
Case stage “OBC”) is available through the following link;

 

[1]https://www.shropshire.gov.uk/media/8939...

 

In line with DfT requirements, these assumptions will be re-assessed again
at the time of Full Business Case submission

 

3. I asked for carbon analyses of the various alternative schemes in order
to compare them with the carbon report that will be made public at the
planning stage for the road. Presumably these carbon analyses already
exist, so I do not understand why they are not supplied in the reply.
Could you explain please? 

 

Response

 

As per answer to Q2, options appraisal and environmental impact
assessments are available through the above link.  A further Carbon
Assessment report pertaining to the NWRR (not a current requirement of DfT
OBC preparation, but something that Shropshire Council is undertaking
itself as part of a future planning application in order to ensure
alignment with its own Carbon targets) will be submitted in due course
with the Full Planning Application.

 

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: Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF. You can find more details at [2]www.ico.org.uk or by telephone on
0303 123 1113.

 

Kind Regards

 

Tom

 

Information Governance Team

Shropshire Council

Shirehall

Abbey Foregate

SHREWSBURY

SY2 6ND

 

Telephone: 01743 252179

Email: [3][Shropshire Council request email]

 

 

 

 

show quoted sections