Site Assessments

TEKSS is a responsible developer and the Gembling site will undergo a rigorous assessment process to ensure it is sensitively designed to account for local ecology, flood risk, landscape & visual impact, cultural heritage and residential amenity.

Input will be sought from the local planning authority in relation to assessment methodology.

The assessment process, alongside extensive consultation, will inform the design of the scheme throughout the development process.

The full list of the assessments required for the proposal will be determined in due course and may include:

• Agricultural Land Classification (ALC) study - to determine the agricultural land grading of the entire site
• Arboricultural assessments - to assess onsite trees for condition and ecological value
• Construction traffic assessments – to identify and assess the most suitable routes to site for construction traffic and for operational vehicles
• Ecology studies – to assess the onsite and near-site habitats and determine the requirement for any additional species-specific studies (e.g. birds, bats, Great Crested Newts etc)
• Flood risk assessments – to ensure the proposal avoids being affected by flooding and avoids causing an increase in flood risk
• Heritage assessment – to assess existing cultural heritage features in and around the site
• Landscape & Visual Impact assessments – to assess potential impacts on landscape and visual amenity; including photomontages of the final proposal and an assessment of cumulative impact alongside other developments, most notably the adjacent wind farm
• Topographical studies – to obtain exact topographical levels data to feed into the technical design

Key studies

A summary of some of the core environmental and technical assessments that will be undertaken are detailed below:

Landscape Assessment

An assessment of the visual impact of the development on neighbouring visual receptors and key locations.

The design of the scheme will evolve during this assessment with locations of proposed boundaries being moved to ensure that they benefit fully from local topography and locations of additional planting identified.

Ecology & biodiversity

An assessment of the local wildlife and habitats. TEKSS has already committed to keeping the development 5 metres from existing hedgerows to reduce any potential impact on wildlife. A key aim of the project is to produce net biodiversity benefits.

Transport

An assessment that looks at the transport routes for the construction period along with routes for operational traffic.

Vehicle movements are weighted heavily towards the construction period which tends to be a fairly short period (circa four months) and it is important to ensure that traffic is managed throughout this period to ensure local schools and peak travel hours are accommodated to maximise safety and minimise impacts on local residents.

Once operational, vehicle movements will be low, and in fact considerably lower than is required for the current farming of the land.

If all the studies prove to be positive, we hope to be in a position to submit a planning application in the spring of 2023. A development timeline can be seen here.