Description of local environment

Air quality

Properties within 300m of the scheme – refer to ‘Population and Human Health’.

A search of the Air Quality in Scotland online mapping tool records that the air quality zones in the wider area record bandings in the ‘green zone’ (Low Index 1-3).

The scheme lies within the boundary of Stirling Council which has no Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs) within its administrative boundary. The nearest AQMA, ‘Falkirk Town Centre’, lies within the boundary of Falkirk Council. It has been declared for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM10) and is found approx. 3.7km west of the scheme extents.

There are 13 sites registered on the Scottish Pollutant Release Inventory (SPRI) for pollutant releases to air within the last 10 years, within 10km of the scheme extents:

  • Avondale Non-Hazardous Landfill, Polmont - Waste and waste-water management - located 1.6km east and declared for:
    • Carbon dioxide (kt),
    • Carbon monoxide (kt),
    • Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) (kg),
    • Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) (kg),
    • Methane (t),
    • Nitrogen oxides, NO and NO2 as NO2 (kt),
    • Particulate matter - PM10 and smaller (t), and
    • Tetrachloroethane (kg).
  • Grangemouth CHP, Boness Road, Grangemouth - Energy sector – located 1.9km north and declared for:
    • Carbon dioxide (kt), and
    • Nitrogen oxides, NO and NO2 as NO2 (kt).
    • INEOS Chemicals Grangemouth Ltd, Grangemouth - Chemical industry – located 1.9km north and declared for:
    • Benzene (t),
    • Butadiene (kg),
    • Carbon dioxide (kt),
    • Carbon monoxide (kt),
    • Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) (kg),
    • Methane (t),
    • Nitrogen oxides, NO and NO2 as NO2 (kt),
    • Non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) (t),
    • Particulate matter - PM10 and smaller (t), and
    • Toluene (kg).
  • Versalis UK Ltd, Grangemouth - Chemical industry – located 2.1km northeast and declared for:
    • Butadiene (kg),
    • Carbon dioxide (kt),
    • NMVOCs (t), and
    • Styrene (kg).
  • CHP Plant, Earls Road, Grangemouth- Energy sector - located 2.1km northwest and declared for:
    • Carbon dioxide (kt).
  • Grangemouth Chemical Plant - Chemical industry – located 2.2km northwest and declared for:
    • Ethylbenzene (kg),
    • NMVOCs (t),
    • Toluene (kg), and
    • Xylene - all isomers (t).
  • Syngenta, Grangemouth Man Centre, Grangemouth - Chemical industry – located 2.3km northwest and declared for:
    • HFCs (kg),
    • Methyl chloride (t),
    • NMVOCs (t), and
    • Toluene (kg).
  • INEOS FPS Ltd, Kinneil Terminal, Grangemouth - Energy sector – located 2.5km northeast and declared for:
    • Carbon dioxide (kt),
    • Carbon monoxide (kt),
    • HCFCs (kg),
    • Methane (t),
    • Nitrogen oxides, NO and NO2 as NO2 (kt),
    • NMVOCs (t), and
    • Sulphur oxides, SO2 and SO3 as SO2 (kt).
  • INEOS Infrastructure (Grangemouth) Ltd - Energy sector – located 2.7km north and declared for:
    • Carbon dioxide (kt),
    • Carbon monoxide (kt),
    • Methane (t),
    • Nitrogen oxides, NO and NO2 as NO2 (kt),
    • Particulate matter - PM10 and smaller (t), and
    • Sulphur oxides, SO2 and SO3 as SO2 (kt).
  • Grangemouth Refinery - Energy sector – located 2.9km north and declared for:
    • Ammonia (t),
    • Arsenic (kg),
    • Benzene (t),
    • Butadiene (kg),
    • Carbon dioxide (kt),
    • Carbon monoxide (kt),
    • HFCs (kg),
    • Mercury (kg),
    • Methane (t),
    • Nickel (kg),
    • Nitrogen oxides, NO and NO2 as NO2 (kt),
    • NMVOCs (t),
    • Particulate matter - PM10 and smaller (t),
    • Particulate matter - total (t),
    • Sulphur oxides, SO2 and SO3 as SO2 (kt),
    • Tetrachloroethylene (kg),
    • Toluene (kg),
    • Vanadium (kg),
    • Xylene - all isomers (t), and
    • Zinc (kg).
  • Falkirk STW, Abbots Road, Falkirk - Waste and waste-water management - located 3.7km northwest and declared for:
    • Methane (t).
  • Longannet PS, Kincardine, Alloa - Energy sector – located 6.1km north and declared for:
    • Antimony (kg),
    • Arsenic (kg),
    • Carbon dioxide (kt),
    • Carbon monoxide (kt),
    • Chlorine and total inorganic chlorine compounds - as HCl (t),
    • Chromium (kg),
    • Copper (kg),
    • Dioxins and furans - as ITEQ (g),
    • Dioxins and furans - as WHO TEQ (g),
    • Fluorine and total inorganic fluorine compounds - as HF (t),
    • Manganese (kg),
    • Mercury (kg),
    • Methane (t),
    • Nickel (kg),
    • Nitrogen oxides, NO and NO2 as NO2 (kt),
    • Nitrous oxide (t),
    • NMVOCs (t),
    • Particulate matter - PM10 and smaller (t),
    • Particulate matter - total (t),
    • Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) - as WHO TEQ (g),
    • Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (four indicator compounds of LRTAP) (kg),
    • Selenium (kg),
    • Sulphur oxides, SO2 and SO3 as SO2 (kt), and
    • Vanadium (kg).
  • Bathgate Compressor Station (Site 2) - Energy sector – located 8.4km south and declared for:
    • Carbon dioxide (kt),
    • Methane (t), and
    • NMVOCs (t).

The baseline air quality within the scheme extents is primarily influenced by motor vehicles travelling along the M9 trunk road. Secondary sources are derived from motor vehicles travelling along nearby local network roads and day-to-day urban and agricultural land management activities.

Cultural heritage

According to the PastMap and Historic Environment Scotland (HES) online mapping tools there are two World Heritage Sites (WHS) which lie within 300m of the scheme extents. Antonine Wall World Heritage Site Buffer Zone crosses the M9 carriageway within the northern scheme extents and Antonine Wall World Heritage Site borders the southbound carriageway boundary within the scheme extents. 

Four scheduled monuments (SM) lie within 300m of the scheme extents. The nearest of which lies 40m north of the scheme extents.

Three listed buildings (LB) lie within 300m of the scheme extents. The nearest LB lies 40m south of the scheme extents.

Of lesser cultural heritage value, 11 undesignated cultural heritage assets (UCHAs), lie within 300m of the scheme extents, the nearest UCHA is located approx. 40m north of the scheme.

Construction of the M9 carriageway is likely to have removed any archaeological remains that may have been present within the carriageway boundary. The potential for the presence of unknown archaeological remains in the study area has therefore been assessed to be low.

Landscape and visual effects

The scheme is not situated within a National Park (NP) or National Scenic Area (NSA).

The Landscape Character Types (LCTs) within the study area are ‘Urban’ (no.0) which has no key characteristics and ‘Lowland River Valleys - Central’ (no. 152) (Scottish Landscape Character Types).

The key characteristics of the 152 LCT are:

  • Well-defined river corridors, most with flat valley floor enclosed by often commanding hills.
  • Strong topographic and visual identity, with varying scale and character.
  • Glacial terrain and deposits located on valley margins, often subject to mineral extraction.
  • Relatively high proportion of tree cover, with roadside and hedgerow trees and seminatural woodland.
  • Dense areas of coniferous forest cover the slopes surrounding the reservoir in the Upper Carron Valley.
  • Road corridors often running parallel to river corridor form key linear features.
  • Settlement often closely linked to the river corridor and parallel road corridors.
  • Intensive settlement and urban development on margins of valleys south and north of Firth of Forth.
  • Predominance of traditionally managed estate, policy and designed landscapes.
  • Nature conservation importance of river and associated habitats.
  • Frequently enclosed and focussed views along the river valley.
  • Visibility of remnant derelict land, motorway and road corridors, power lines, wind farms and industrial sites from the urban fringe of Falkirk/Denny.

Land use within 300m of the scheme is categorised into the following:

  • Cemetery.
  • Recreation area.
  • Industrial-scale farming unit.
  • Motorway and major roads.
  • Urban area.
  • Rough grazing.
  • Cultivated former parkland.
  • Rectilinear fields and farms.

The national scale land capability for agriculture classifies land surrounding the scheme as being:

  • ‘Class 3.2’ – Land capable of average production though high yields of barley, oats and grass can be obtained. Grass leys are common.
  • ‘Class 888’ – Urban.

Woodland within the study area consists of:

  • Approx. 1.7ha of broadleaved woodland borders the northbound carriageway within the scheme extents and is recorded on the Native Woodland Survey of Scotland (NWSS).
  • Approx. 0.9ha of broadleaved woodland located approx. 20m southwest of the scheme extents.
  • Polmont Woods, consisting of approx. 14ha of mixed conifer and broadleaved woodland located approx. 20m east of the scheme extents, 9.5ha of which is recorded on the Ancient Woodland Survey of Scotland and 4.5ha of which is recorded on the NWSS.
  • Approx. 0.6ha of broadleaved woodland borders the southbound carriageway within the scheme extents.
  • Approx. 2.5ha of broadleaved woodland located approx. 130m south of the scheme extents.
  • Approx. 0.7ha of mixed mainly conifer woodland located approx. 150m northwest of the scheme extents.
  • Approx. 1ha of broadleaved woodland located approx. 160m northwest of the scheme extents which is recorded on the NWSS.
  • Approx. 1.3ha of mixed mainly broadleaved woodland located approx. 290m northwest of the scheme extents.

There are no trees covered by a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) with connectivity to the scheme extents.

The existing motorway is a prominent linear landscape feature. The road corridor, for example, has a distinct character shaped by fast-flowing traffic, road markings, safety barriers, signage, landscaping, etc. The scale of the carriageway detracts from the quality and character of the wider landscape.

Biodiversity

The NatureScot Sitelink online mapping tools identifies that the scheme is not situated within 2km of, and does not share connectivity with a European Site designated for biodiversity features e.g., SAC, SPA, Ramsar.

Polmont Park Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC) is located 90m south of the scheme and Polmont Woods Wildlife Site Local Nature Conservation Site (LNCS) is located 190m northeast.

There are no SSSIs, or Local Nature Reserves (LNRs) designated for biodiversity features within 300m of, or which share connectivity to, the scheme.

A search of the NBN online mapping tool recorded the following plant species as listed within the Network Management Contract within 2km of the scheme extents (within the last 10-years):

Invasive non-native species (INNS):

  • Japanese knotweed (Reynoutria japonica)
  • Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera).

Injurious weed (as listed under the Weeds Act 1959):

  • Common ragwort (Senecio jacobaea).

Invasive native perennials (as listed in the Trunk Road Inventory Manual) 

  • Broad-leaved Dock (Rumex obtusifolius),
  • Spear Thistle (Cirsium vulgare),
  • Rosebay willowherb (Chamaenerion angustifolium).

The closest record pertains to Japanese knotweed, which lies approx. 1.1km south of the scheme extents, recorded in 2024.

A search of the Asset Management Performance System (AMPS) records INNS rhododendron (Rhododendron Ponticum) and invasive native perennial rosebay willowherb (as listed in the Trunk Road Inventory Manual) within the scheme extents (2015, 2018 and 2021).

Habitat immediately bordering the trunk road tends to be of low intrinsic value because the existing road verge is subject to cyclic maintenance e.g., grass cutting, weed control, tree, and shrub cut-back etc. The roadside verges within the scheme extents are comprised of strips of managed grassland on steep embankments bordered by broadleaved tree and shrub shelterbelt and woodland areas. The presence of the trunk road is likely to restrict continuity of, and connectivity between, habitats either side of the trunk road boundary.

Outwith the trunk road boundary, agricultural land to the north and east of the scheme forms a pattern of open and exposed fields containing both pastoral and arable land. The result of this intensive agricultural land management is to restrict the occurrence of semi-natural and natural vegetation types. Most field boundaries are comprised of stone wall and wooden fencing, with vegetative features further delineating field boundaries e.g., shrub hedgerow, rough grassland, ruderal herb stands, scrub and tree shelterbelt. Linear features at field boundaries have wildlife value, both as corridors in an intensively managed landscape, and as habitats for birds and small animals. Areas to the south and west are dominated by pockets of woodland and residential areas.

Geology and soils

The M9 within the scheme extents is not located within a Geological Conservation Review Site (GCRS) and there are no Local Geodiversity Sites (LGS) with connectivity to the scheme extents.

The National Soil Map of Scotland online mapping tool records that the generalised soil type recorded beneath the scheme extents is brown soils and mineral gleys and the major soil group recorded beneath the scheme extents is brown soils and gleys.

The British Geological Survey online mapping tool records that the superficial geology within the scheme extents is comprised of:

  • Alluvium – (clay, silt, sand and gravel).
  • Raised Marine Deposits, Devensian – (clay, silt and sand).
  • Raised Marine Deposits, Devensian – (clay, silt, sand and gravel).

The bedrock geology within the scheme extents is recorded as:

  • Passage Formation – (sedimentary rock cycles, Clackmannan group type).

There is no evidence of historical processes or the storage of hazardous materials that could have given rise to significant land contamination within the scheme extents.

Given that works are restricted to like-for-like replacement of the existing road surface within the carriageway boundary with no earthworks are required, there is no potential to impact upon geology and soils. Therefore, geology and soils has been scoped out of further environmental assessment.

Material assets and waste

The proposed works are required to resurface the worn carriageway and reinstate road markings. Materials used will consist of:

  • TS2010 surface course,
  • AC20 dense binder,
  • Bitumen emulsion,
  • Hot bitumen,
  • Marker paint,
  • Cold bitumen sealant,
  • Tar glue remover,
  • Thermoplastic road markings, and
  • Surface mounted and milled road studs.

As the value of the scheme is less than £350,000, a Site Waste Management Plan (SWMP) is not required for these works. The scheme involves removal of the surface course and localised areas of base and binder course. Bituminous material (European Waste Catalogue Code: 17 03 02) will be removed from site, none of which is classified as hazardous material containing coal tar.

Noise and vibration

Receptors – refer to ‘Population and Human Health’.

Works are not located within a Candidate Noise Management Area (CNMA) or Candidate Quiet Areas (CQA).

The day-time modelled noise level (Lden) within the scheme extents ranges between 75 and 80 decibels (dB) and at the nearest noise sensitive receptor (NSR) (residential property) ranges between 70 and 75 dB (Scotland’s Noise Scotland’s Environment).

Baseline noise and vibration in the study area is mainly influenced by vehicles travelling along the trunk road. Secondary sources are derived from vehicles travelling along the local road network, day-to-day urban, woodland and agricultural land management activities.

Population and human health

The scheme extents border Polmont, as such numerous properties (including residential properties, farmsteads, and business premises) lie within 300m of the scheme extents, the closest of which lies approx. 40m south of the trunk road and has limited screening from the scheme provided by a 2m high garden fence. All remaining properties are screened from the scheme by a combination of roadside tree shelterbelt (approx. 15m wide), raised roadside embankment, woodland, and/or topography.

Of note the following are found within 300m of the scheme:

  • Polmont Cemetery borders the scheme extents and has limited screening from the works.
  • Polmont Old Parish Church is located 60m northeast of the scheme and has limited screening from the works.

Two core paths (ID: 360 and 4549) are present within Polmont Woods bordering the southbound carriageway at the eastern scheme extents. There are no other non-motorised user (NMU) or community facilities with connectivity to the scheme.

Street lighting is absent throughout the scheme extents.

The M9, within the scheme extents is a motorway with the national speed limit applying throughout. The Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) flow along the M9 within the scheme extents is moderate (43,833 motor vehicles) (ID: 20703, 2023)) (Road Traffic Statistics) and is comprised of:

  • 177 two-wheeled motor vehicles,
  • 31,654 cars and taxis,
  • 41 bus and coaches,
  • 9,209 Light Goods Vehicles (LGVs), and
  • 2,752 Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs)

There are no congestion issues noted on the M9 within the scheme extents during the proposed working hours.

Road drainage and the water environment

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) River Basin Management Plan online mapping tool records no classified surface waterbodies within 300m of the scheme extents.

Three small minor unclassified surface waterbodies, considered to be minor tributaries, or drainage channels lie within 300m of the scheme extents. Details are as follows:

  • Drain1 (Flood relief channel) – located approx. 250m north of the scheme extents.
  • Millhall Burn – located approx. 260m northeast of the scheme extents.
  • Drain2 - located approx. 260m north of the scheme extents.

All three waterbodies are too small (in terms of catchment area) to be classified as a main stem waterbody by SEPA under the Water Framework Directive (WFD).

A search of the SEPA’s Flood Map online mapping tool records that areas of the trunk road throughout the scheme extents are not at risk of surface water flooding.

A search of the Scotland’s Environment (SE) online mapping tool determined that the trunk road, within the scheme extents, lies on the ‘Grangemouth’ and ‘Avon Sand and Gravel’ groundwaters, which have been classified as ‘Good’.

A search of the SE online mapping tool determined that the trunk road, within the scheme extents does not lie within a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ).

Climate

The Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 sets out the target and vision set by the Scottish Government for tackling and responding to climate change (Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009). The Act includes a target of reducing CO2 emissions by 80% before 2050 (from the baseline year 1990). The Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019 amended the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 to bring the target of reaching net-zero emissions in Scotland forward to 2045 (Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019).

The Scottish Government has since published its indicative Nationally Determined Contribution (iNDC) to set out how it will reach net-zero emissions by 2045, working to reduce emissions of all major greenhouse gases by at least 75% by 2030 (Scotland's contribution to the Paris Agreement: indicative Nationally Determined Contribution). By 2040, the Scottish Government is committed to reducing emissions by 90%, with the aim of reaching net-zero by 2045 at the latest.

Transport Scotland is committed to reducing carbon across Scotland’s transport network and this commitment is being enacted through the Mission Zero for Transport (Mission Zero for transport | Transport Scotland). Transport is the largest contributor to harmful climate emissions in Scotland. In response to the climate emergency, Transport Scotland are committed to reducing their emissions by 75% by 2030 and to a legally binding target of net-zero by 2045.