Long Eaton

The HS2 route through Long Eaton is on embankment and viaducts which will be visible from the Erewash Canal. In particular, there are open views across Toton Yard to the new Toton Station site. The canal environment and its users will be affected by both construction and operational noise and the indicated noise fence barriers should be extended to protect not only the nearest housing but also the amenity and recreational corridor of the canal.

Sandiacre

At Sandiacre Lock a balancing pond access is shown crossing by the listed canal bridge, and there are concerns about construction vehicle weights and sizes and possible impacts on the bridge parapets.

Between Toton and Stanton Gate the viaduct along the valley crosses the Erewash Canal at a very skew angle and may need a short canal diversion to enable a shorter span crossing with less visually intrusive piers. There is also an auto-transformer station that will be visible from the canal around Pasture Lock, and screen planting should be provided by relocation of the balancing pond.

Canal users travel only at walking pace and boaters will take 15 minutes or more to pass through each lock. They will also moor up for lunch or overnight in convenient or attractive locations, so are very vulnerable to any excessive noise impacts from HS2 trains. If their use of a long section of the canal is not to be discouraged and unduly restricted by a degraded sound environment, then it is imperative that the viaduct has acoustic fencing barriers to mitigate the noise, and that these are designed to achieve at least the same standard of noise reduction as would be afforded to residential buildings at that location.

Stanton Gate

The M1 realignment at Stanton Gate will require a new canal bridge but there are as yet no dimensional details. It should span the full width of the canal and its towpath and provide a minimum 3m air draught clearance. The design of the bridge structures is unknown but should follow the CRT design principles accepted for HS2 Phase 1.