Infrastructure Design
Environmental Assessment
Details
Although BESS sites have limited impact in terms of operational traffic terms, they are often located in difficult to access areas. The construction phase must therefore be carefully planned due to the size and nature of the equipment that must be delivered. Local stakeholders and statutory bodies frequently raise objections with regards to impact and safety and as such, it is important to recognise such potential issues in advance and prepare appropriate justification and mitigation. This can be challenging for renewable technology such as BESS, as there is often a lack of experience and planning precedent. Mayer Brown is able to provide bespoke assistance to clients based on a wealth of experience in the renewable energy field.
Mayer Brown prepared an Outline Construction Traffic Management Plan (CTMP) to support the application, which addressed issues raised by National Highways (responsible for the trunk road network) and North Yorkshire Council (NYC) (responsible for the local road network), which included:
• Evidence-based assessment of anticipated traffic by vehicle type and number during construction and operational phases;
• Delivery management strategy to co-ordinate and control the number of HGVs entering and exiting the site at the same time;
• Delivery timing, to ensure construction traffic does not impact peak hours;
• and
• Appropriate visibility from the site access onto the public highway to address safety concerns.
At the time of preparing the CTMP, the client did not have any other operational sites similar in nature that could be surveyed to generate an estimation of construction traffic. Mayer Brown therefore derived the anticipated vehicle movements from a BESS site with a comparable build rate to the application site, to demonstrate the level of HGV activity the proposed site could generate. This approach was accepted by the Statutory Bodies and is now used for subsequent BESS applications.
The access route utilised an existing access which required analysis to ensure adequate visibility could be achieved. Traffic data analysis confirmed that the 85th percentile speeds were of a level that meant appropriate visibility could be achieved and swept path analysis plots were used to demonstrate suitability for HGVs to enter and exit, as well as circulate the site to the construction laydown area. Vehicle routing and timing was also carefully considered within the CTMP to minimise the impact of construction on the local and strategic highway network.
Mayer Brown applied its experience to expedite and successfully secure planning permission minimising costs and unnecessary delay for our client. Crucially, by operating in an engaging and approachable manner Mayer Brown also maintained good stakeholder relationships during the process. The successes of the approach, particularly in developing a bespoke trip generation assessment, have been utilised in a series of other BESS applications across the country – we look forward to further planning success for our clients!
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