Notice is hereby given that Highways England Company Limited (“Highways England”) of Bridge House, Walnut Tree Close, Guildford, GUI 4LZ proposes to make an application (“the Application”) to the Secretary of State for Transport under Section 37 of the Planning Act 2008 for a Development Consent Order.

The Application relates to a comprehensive upgrade of the M42 junction 6, near Birmingham Airport, allowing better movement of traffic on and off the A45, supporting access to the airport and preparing capacity for the new HS2 station.

The project is situated wholly in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the West Midlands and is a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) under Sections 14 and 22 of the Planning Act 2008.

The scheme’s main proposals in summary are:

• A new 1.5 mile (2.4 km) dual carriageway link road between the Clock Interchange on the A45 and a new junction on the M42, north of the Solihull Road, allowing traffic travelling northbound to exit the M42 and traffic travelling southbound to join the M42.

• The new dual carriageway would be to the west of Bickenhill and would generally be below ground level and pass beneath the B4438 (Catherine de Barnes Lane), at both the north west and south west corners of Bickenhill.

• Improvements will be made to the Clock Interchange and the A45 between the Clock Interchange and the M42, including potential improvements to non-motorised user routes.

• Free flow links will be provided around the north west and the north east of the M42 junction 6.

• Improvements will also be included on the south east side of the M42 junction 6, the A45 westbound (east of the M42 junction 6) and the M42 junction 6 southbound slip roads to improve the performance around this quadrant of the junction.

The scheme is an Environmental Impact Assessment development (“EIA development”) as defined by the Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017.

This means that the proposed works constitute development for which an Environmental Impact Assessment will be required. An Environmental Statement will therefore be submitted as part of the proposed application containing. Preliminary Environmental Information (“PEI”) can be found in the PEI report which forms part of the consultation material.

Consultation on the proposals will take place from 9 January to 19 February 2018. Copies of the consultation materials—including documents, plans and maps showing the nature and location of the proposed development, and the PEI— will be available for inspection free of charge during the consultation at the following deposit locations and times:

Birmingham City Council Offices

(Mon - Thurs 09.00 to 17.00; Fri 09.00 to 16.00)

1 Lancaster Circus, Queensway, Birmingham, B4 7DG

Balsall Common Library

(Mon and Thurs 10.00 to 18.00; Tues 10.00 to 17.00; Fri 14.00 to 17.00 and Sat 10.00 to 16.00)

283 Kenilworth Road, Balsall Common, Coventry, CV7 7EL

Hampton-in-Arden Library

(Tues 10.00 to 12.00 and 13.00 to 18.00; Fri 13.00 to 17.00)

39 Fentham Road, Hampton-in-Arden, Solihull, B92 0AY

Hobs Moat Library

(Mon and Tues 10.00 to 17.00; Thurs 10.00 to 18.00; Fri 10.00 to 17.00; Sat 10.00 to 13.00)

Ulleries Road, Hobs Moat, Solihull, B92 8EB

Marston Green Library

(Mon and Thurs 10.00 to 13.00 and 14.00 to 18.00; Wed 11.00 to 13.00; Sat 10.00 to 13.00)

Land Lane, Marston Green, Birmingham, B37 7DQ

Meriden Library

(Mon and Thurs 10.00 to 18.00; Sat 10.00 to 13.00)

The Green, Coventry, CV7 7LN

Solihull Central Library

(Mon and Thurs 09.00 to 20.00; Tues, Wed and Fri 09.00 to 18.00; Sat 09.00 to 17.00)

The Core, Homer Road, Solihull, B91 3RG

South Yardley Library

(Mon, Tues, Fri and Sat 11.00 to 13.00 and 14.00 to 17.00; Thurs 11.00 to 13.00 and 14.00 to 19.00)

Yardley Road, Birmingham, B25 8LT

Warwick Library

(Mon-Thurs 08.00 to 17.30; Fri 08.00 to 17.00; Sat 09.00 to 16.00)

Shire Hall, Market Square, Warwick CV34 4UB

Copies of the consultation material will also be available online during this period on the project website at www.highways.gov.uk/m42-j6. They may also be provided on request from Highways England using the contact details below. A CD copy can be provided free of charge.

Paper copies of the scheme summary leaflet, this Section 48 Notice and the Statement of Community Consultation will be available at deposit locations and will be supplied free of charge. For paper copies of any other consultation materials a reasonable copying charge will be made up to a maximum of £64.00 for the full suite of documents. Prices include VAT at 20% and UK postage. Please contact Highways England for details regarding payment methods, this notice, the consultation or the scheme using the contact details below.

Highways England, M42 J6 Project Team, The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RN

or by email: M42Junction6@highwaysengland.co.uk, or phone: 0300 123 5000.

Comments must be received no later than 23:59 hours on Monday 19 February 2018.

Any person may comment on the proposals or otherwise respond to this publicity. A consultation feedback form / questionnaire is available as part of the consultation materials. Highways England requests that when providing your response, state the ground of representation, the nature of your interest in the proposed project, indicate who is making it and provide an address to which any correspondence relating to the representation may be sent or, if you would prefer your comments to be anonymous, your postcode only.

Highways England will consider and have regard to all responses when developing the Application for a Development Consent Order once consultation has closed. Responses will form the basis of a Consultation Report that will be one of the factors taken into consideration by the Secretary of State when deciding whether the Application can be accepted for examination. Therefore, in providing any comment, it should be borne in mind that the substance of it may be communicated to others as part of the Consultation Report.

If you would like further information about this notice, the consultation or the scheme, please contact the project team by using one of the contact methods provided above.

Jonathan Pizzey, Senior Project Manager, Highways England, The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RN.