Representation by National Trust (National Trust)
- Date submitted
- 15 September 2021
- Submitted by
- Non-statutory organisations
Introduction National Trust is a conservation charity with a membership of more than 5 million people. We are legally responsible for the protection of some of the most beautiful and environmentally sensitive places in England. Within the Peak District National Park, we own and manages a wide range of landscapes and their related flora and fauna, from open moorland, limestone gorges, edges and cloughs to enclosed farmland. Much of this land is of international importance for biodiversity and is designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Special Protection Areas, and Special Areas of Conservation. National Trust owns large areas of land on either side of the A57 Snake Pass as it travels through the Peak District. As well as passing through highly designated land, this road is essential to our operation, providing access for National Trust tenants to the land they farm and manage, as well as to their homes. The Snake Pass is a challenging road on which accidents occur, parts of which are also subject to land stability issues. Summary National Trust has concerns about the likely increase in traffic over the A57 Snake Pass through the sensitive environment of the Peak District. We are keen to see measures employed to restrain traffic on the Snake Pass while also reducing environmental impacts and/or delivering biodiversity enhancements. Key issues We are concerned about the modelled traffic increase on the Snake Pass and associated impacts on the statutory purposes and special qualities of the Peak District, for example impacts on tranquillity, access/recreation and biodiversity. We are concerned about detrimental effects on the biodiversity of the Peak District as a result of worsening air quality along the Snake Pass, which passes through designated sites. We would wish the applicant to carefully consider and address this issue. We will examine the findings of the Environmental Statement and Habitats Regulations Assessment in relation to these issues. We are concerned about the modelled increase in accident risk on the Snake Pass. This, and ongoing land stability issues, pose a risk to the operations of National Trust staff and tenants. Mitigation and enhancement We believe that the applicant should be proposing measures to disincentivise cross-park traffic on the A57, and to ameliorate its impacts, for example traffic restraint/technology measures such as tolling/charging, reduction of speed limits or average speed checks, subject to visual impact. Such measures would have multiple interrelated benefits such as: reduced impacts on the National Park, reduced accident rates, improved air quality and a reduction in nitrogen deposition. We are keen to see mitigation, compensation and/or environmental enhancement to counter the impacts of the scheme on designated sites. National Trust land adjacent to the Snake Pass may offer a potential receptor site for such measures and we would welcome the opportunity to engage more fully with the applicant. We also wish to see ongoing monitoring of traffic and air quality along the Snake Pass to ensure that the impacts of the scheme are understood, with triggers to implement additional mitigation if necessary.