Case studies of EIA in practice - Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment - page 261

by the A556 trunk road, which was mainly a four-lane single carriageway. This route,
which served much of the motorway traffic between the cities of Manchester and
Birmingham, was seen as problematic. It was characterized by a high volume of traffic,
much of it consisting of heavy-goods vehicles, peak-hour congestion and a poor accident
record. The do-minimum option and on-line improvements to the existing road were
rejected in favour of a replacement link road. This was to be a three-lane dual
carriageway for most of its 10-km length. The existing A556 route would lose its trunk
road status when the new scheme was completed. The scheme was proposed by the DoT,
which at the time was the authority responsible for trunk road and motorway construction
in the UK.
The land surrounding the existing A556 was rural and predominantly agricultural. The
relevant local authority, Cheshire CC, had identified three areas of special landscape
value in the vicinity, at Tatton Park to the east, the Bollin Valley to the north and Tabley
Park to the south-west (Figure 9.2). Ecologically designated sites included the important
site of Rostherne Mere, near the existing junction with the M56 motorway. This was
designated an SSSI, a national nature reserve and a wetland of international importance
under the Ramsar Convention on account of the waterfowl which nest at the site
(DoE/DoT 1995). There were also six designated sites of biological importance, as well
as many patches of undesignated woodland, unimproved grassland, lane-side hedges and
ponds of local importance; wildlife corridors connected these features (DoT 1992).
9.3.3 Background to the proposal and the key planning stages
The proposed scheme had originally entered the National Trunk Roads Programme in the
late 1980s as a stand-alone scheme. However, it later became part of a much longer route,
known as the Greater Manchester Western and Northern Relief Road (GMWNRR). This
route, divided into three main parts, involved the construction of new relief roads around
the northern and western fringes of the Greater Manchester conurbation. The A556(M)
scheme represented Stage I of this overall route. Six alternative routes for the A556
scheme, including an on-line improvement of the existing road, were considered by the
DoT before the public consultation stage, although only one route option was presented at
the consultation stage at the end of 1989.
Following public consultation on the proposals, the DoT announced their preferred
route for the scheme at the end of 1990 and detailed design and assessment of this route
then began. The environmental statement was published in October 1992, together with
the draft line orders for the scheme (for a road scheme, this is the equivalent of the
planning application). Modifications to the draft orders and an addendum to the
environmental statement were published in February 1993. A public inquiry into the draft
orders was held during the latter part of 1993. Supporters of the scheme at the inquiry
included the local authorities in the area, Cheshire CC and Macclesfield Borough
Council, as well as the CPRE and the Mere Residents Association (representing residents
along the existing A556 route). Objectors included adjacent local authorities (such as
Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council), environmental bodies such as EN and FoE, and
many local residents and members of the public. Approval for the scheme, confirming the
draft line orders in modified form, was given in July 1995 (DoE/DoT 1995). A separate