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Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: County Hall, New Road, Oxford

Contact: Graham Warrington  Tel: 07393 001211; E-Mail:  graham.warrington@oxfordshire.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

12/19

Apologies for Absence and Temporary Appointments

Minutes:

 

 

Apology for Absence

 

Temporary Appointment

 

 

Councillor John Sanders

 

 

Councillor Damien Haywood

 

 

 

 

13/19

Declarations of Interest - see guidance note opposite

Minutes:

 

 

Member

 

Item

 

Interest

 

 

Councillor Judy Roberts

 

 

9. Commons Act 2006: In the Matter of an Application to Register Harcourt Hill Field, Harcourt Hill, Oxford as a Town or Village Green

 

Local member. She confirmed that as she had not expressed an opinion on this matter in that capacity she therefore intended to participate in any discussion or voting.

 

 

 

14/19

Minutes pdf icon PDF 216 KB

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 4 March 2019 (PN3) and to receive information arising from them.

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 4 March 2019 were approved and signed.

15/19

Petitions and Public Address

Minutes:

 

 

Speaker

 

Item

 

 

County Councillor Ian Corkin (Local Member)

Martin Layer (Applicant) & Gemma Crossley (Agent)

 

 

)

) 5. Dewars Farm – Application

) MW.0102/18

)

 

County Councillor Hannah Banfield (Local Member)

Andy Shepley & Sam Lankester (for the Applicant)

 

 

)

) 6. Tarmac Asphalt Plant –

) Application MW.0117/18

)

 

 

Will Pleeth (OCC)

Heidi McSweeney (Headteacher)

Brendan Quinn (Transport Consultant)

Richard Baker (Construction Manager, Kier Construction)

 

 

)

)

) 7. Cholsey Primary School –

) Application R3.0105/18

)

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

16/19

Section 73 application for the continuation of development permitted under 15/01660/CM (MW.0123/15) (for the winning and working of limestone and clay at Dewars Farm as an extension to Ardley Quarry) without complying with conditions 1 and 2, to allow the quarry to continue operating beyond 2020, to permit working until 2028 and restoration by 2029. - Application No. MW.0102/18 pdf icon PDF 455 KB

Report by the Director for Planning & Place (PN6).

 

This application is for continuation of winning and working of limestone and clay at Dewars Farm without complying with conditions 1 and 2 to allow the quarry to continue operating beyond 2020, to permit working until 2028 and for restoration by 2029. No additional vehicular movements to that originally envisaged are being proposed. There is no routeing agreement associated with the existing permission. The application is being reported to this Committee as objections have been received from the Local Member and Middleton Stoney Parish Council. 

 

The proposal is considered to accord generally with development plan policies.

  

It is RECOMMENDED that planning permission for Application MW.0102/18 be approved subject to conditions to be determined by the Director for Planning and Place but to include matters set out in Annex 2 to the report PN6. 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered (PN6) an application to continue winning and working of limestone and clay at Dewars Farm without complying with conditions 1 and 2 to allow the quarry to continue operating beyond 2020, to permit working until 2028 and for restoration by 2029.

Mary Hudson presented the report together with an addenda sheet setting out a number of amendments to the detail in the report but no change to the printed recommendation.

Martin Layer spoke for the applicants. Outlining a brief history of quarrying at Ardley he then explained how, due to the recession when the current operation began, demand for and sales of aggregates had slumped. The consequence of that was that the date for completion and restoration originally set for 2020 with restoration by 2021 could not be met without leaving a considerable amount of unworked reserves of limestone in the ground. This application asked for additional time to recover those reserves and supply them into the local construction market where demand was currently high and as Dewars Farm Quarry produced crushed and graded limestone aggregates which were all bulky and heavy it seemed sensible to source as much material locally.  That said Smiths were acutely aware of the concerns of local communities about lorry traffic at all their sites across the County and although there hadn’t been any complaints from residents about the actual quarrying operation at Dewars Farm, lorries did feature regularly on the agenda of the joint liaison meetings with Middleton Stoney and Ardley parish councils. Those concerns were particularly true for residents on the cross roads at Middleton Stoney and along the B4030.  However, the B4030 east through Middleton Stoney provided a shorter and faster alternative to the M40, A41 and congestion at Junction 9.  Smiths maintained that congestion at the crossroads at Middleton Stoney and the impacts this had for the residents along the B4030 was a strategic matter which was rightly being investigated by the County Council and could not be resolved by targeting a single operator through a routeing agreement, as the village would still face all the other heavy traffic continuing to travel to and from development sites. Smiths supported a weight restriction east of Middleton Stoney on the B4030 Bicester Road that restricted all hauliers and as such had offered their support to Middleton Stoney Parish Council. However, as this application was not seeking any changes to the current permitted development other than additional time any calls for restrictions on movements would be unnecessary and unreasonable.

 

He then responded to questions from:

 

Councillor Roberts – he confirmed that figures for arriving at an end date of 2028 had been reached after setting production at 250,000 tonnes pa.  That time would reduce if demand increased.

 

Councillor Webber – he confirmed that the recession had affected demand with sales at times below 100,000 tonnes pa.  This application counterbalanced that.

 

Councillor Haywood – he confirmed that lorry movements were split roughly 50/50 between a north and south direction.

 

Councillor Sames –  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16/19

17/19

Application to continue the development permitted by CHN.45/90 (permanent consent for coated Roadstone) without complying with conditions 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 12, 13 and 16 (to remove hours of working for asphalt plant to allow operations at any time of day or night and to update plans to relocate existing office, canteen and WC) - Application No. MW.0117/18 pdf icon PDF 321 KB

Report by the Director for Planning & Place (PN7).

 

This is a Section 73 application to amend certain conditions on an existing consent. The site is an asphalt plant located adjacent to the railway, north of Banbury. Aggregate is imported mainly by rail and used to produce asphalt which is exported by road. These operations currently take place from 4am until 7pm, with overnight working only permitted with the prior approval of the Minerals Planning Authority. The applicant has applied to remove this restriction so that the plant could be operated through the night on any night, without needing to seek additional consent. They have provided a noise assessment to demonstrate that this would not cause unacceptable noise impacts and have proposed an additional noise barrier. It is proposed that overnight working would take place occasionally, rather than every night.

It is also proposed to relocate the existing office and associated buildings within the site. The current consent dates from 2003 and therefore there are some further conditions which are no longer relevant and which the applicant has applied to be removed.

There have been objections from 11 members of the public as well as the County Councillor, Banbury Town Council and Cherwell District Council. The main concern raised is noise. There were also some concerns about HGV movements and trains. However, the applicant has confirmed that there would be no increase in HGV movements and no change to the timing or number of trains. ??

 

Subject to a new routeing agreement first being entered into to secure the existing routeing provisions with additional restrictions to the route for night time HGV movements, it is RECOMMENDED that planning permission for Application MW.0117/18 be approved subject to conditions as set out in Annex 1 as amended by Annex 2 to the report PN7.

???

Additional documents:

Minutes:

 

The Committee considered (PN7) a Section 73 application to amend certain conditions on an existing consent at an asphalt plant located adjacent to the railway, north of Banbury. Aggregate was imported mainly by rail and used to produce asphalt which was then exported by road. Operations currently took place from 4am until 7pm, with overnight working only permitted with the prior approval of the Minerals Planning Authority. The applicant had applied to remove this restriction so that the plant could be operated through the night on any night, without needing to seek additional consent. They had provided a noise assessment to demonstrate that this would not cause unacceptable noise impacts and had proposed an additional noise barrier. It is proposed that overnight working would take place occasionally, rather than every night. It was also proposed to relocate the existing office and associated buildings within the site. The current consent dated from 2003 and therefore there were some further conditions which were no longer relevant and which the applicant had applied to be removed.

 

Presenting the report along with further information on the published addenda Mary Hudson reported 2 further objections from residents. She then responded to Members’ questions:

 

Councillor Phillips – since 2004 there had been 8 requests for extended working with the last being in 2014 although there had been one last week but that had been to facilitate the company’s assessment work. It would be reasonable to expect that there would be more requests.

Councillor Johnston – complaints had been received from the south of the site.

Councillor Gawrysiak – a new routeing agreement would be required with a more restrictive route for night traffic as required by Condition 6 and as set out in paragraph 72 of the report.  Overnight traffic was required to access the motorway via Hennef Way.

Mr Shepley with Sam Lankester also attending then addressed the Committee on behalf of the applicant. Tarmac was the UK’s leading sustainable building materials and construction solutions business and had operated at the Banbury site for over 30 years currently employing 14 people full-time, predominantly from the local area. As the plant had expanded and the need for asphalt in the local area increased a number of variations to the plant’s operating hours had been made over the years, with the last granted in 2003 to permit operation of the plant between the hours of 4am – 7pm Monday to Saturday and 8am to 5pm on Sundays. Overnight working was permitted outside of these hours, provided that prior written agreement had first been obtained from the minerals planning authority, each time such working was required. Tarmac took their responsibility to the local community very seriously and, since 2003, their records showed there had only been a single complaint in 2018 from a local resident to operations at the plant. That had been resolved quickly and successfully by Tarmac. He pointed out that the report by county officers stated no complaints had been received by the Minerals Planning  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17/19

18/19

New single storey four-classroom teaching block, including withdrawal room, toilets, store rooms, canopy entrance link to existing school building and minor modifications to hard and soft landscaping at Cholsey Primary School - Application No. R3.0105/18 pdf icon PDF 181 KB

Report by the Director for Planning & Place (PN8).

 

This is a planning application for a new single storey four classroom teaching block at Cholsey Primary School to be located on an existing hardstanding to the rear of the main school building. The development would help facilitate the expansion of the school from 1.5 form entry to 2 form entry from September 2019. Therefore, it would result in an increase in pupil and staff numbers.

 

There have been no objections to the location or design of the new block. However, objections have been received from two local residents concerned about the impact of additional staff and pupils on parking outside the school gates. Transport Development Control have also expressed concern.

 

The applicant is not proposing any additional staff parking within the school site and have stated that there is inufficient space to provide this. Instead it is proposed to formalise an area which is currently unmarked but used informally for parking. The applicant has also stated that the church car park can be used by parents at school pick up and drop off, to alleviate congestion and parking problems directly outside the school gates.

 

The proposal seeks to expand an existing village school in one of the larger villages in South Oxfordshire where future growth is anticipated. It is in accordance with the NPPF requirement to give great weight to the need to expand schools.

 

Subject to the applicant first providing a Unilateral Undertaking for the payment of the School Travel monitoring fee of £1240, it is RECOMMENDED that planning permission for R3.0105/18 be approved subject to conditions to be determined by the Director of Planning and Place, to include the following:

 

i)             Detailed compliance with approved plans, including drainage strategy

ii)           Permission to be implemented within three years

iii)          Submission, approval and implementation of a Construction Traffic Management Plan

iv)          Submission, approval and implementation of details of additional cycle parking

v)           Submission, approval and implementation of details of formalisation of staff parking within school site

vi)          Submission, approval and implementation of details of off-site (church car park) parking arrangements for school pick up and drop off

vii)        Submission, approval and implementation of details of school travel plan

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

 

The Committee considered a planning application for a new single storey four classroom teaching block at Cholsey Primary School to be located on an existing hardstanding to the rear of the main school building to help facilitate the expansion of the school from 1.5 form entry to 2 form entry from September 2019.

 

Presenting the report and addenda for the application Mrs Hudson confirmed that there had been no objections to location or design but some regarding parking arrangements at the school.

 

Heidi McSweeney (Headteacher) spoke in support of the application. The school had been encouraged to take more pupils and so was desperate for this additional development.  Alternative parking was available for drop off times and lots of pupils walked and scooted to school. However, as some development in the village was some 20/30 minutes away which required some parents to drive she felt the school travel plan could only encourage further change.

 

Brendan Quinn (Transport Consultant) stated the safety record in the area was good with no recorded accidents. Some staff parking was provided on the school site with additional parking available at St Mary’s church.  The Travel Plan should continue to encourage alternative travel to school and with 80-90% of the local catchment within 2 kilometres impact on local network should be low.

 

Kerry Emberson (OCC Highways Development Control) accepted that all schools to some extent had problems at drop off and pick up times and that expansion was needed but she felt obliged to highlight that there were issues here with parking on zig zag lines and in residential areas.  There was an increase in staffing numbers but no parking provision for them.

 

Councillor Matelot stated that as a governor of a large primary school in a cul-de-sac she was aware that all schools suffered from such problems.  In this instance the walk and cycle initiatives appeared to have been successful and Cholsey school needed to expand. She moved that the application be approved.  Councillor Johnston seconded the motion which was put to the Committee and –

 

RESOLVED: (unanimously) that subject to the applicant first providing a Unilateral Undertaking for the payment of the School Travel monitoring fee of £1240, that planning permission for R3.0105/18 be approved subject to conditions to be determined by the Director of Planning and Place, to include the following:

 

i)             Detailed compliance with approved plans, including drainage strategy.

ii)            Permission to be implemented within three years.

iii)           Submission, approval and implementation of a Construction Traffic Management Plan

iv)          Submission, approval and implementation of details of additional cycle parking.

v)            Submission, approval and implementation of details of formalisation of staff parking within school site.

vi)          Submission, approval and implementation of details of off-site (church car park) parking arrangements for school pick up and drop off.

vii)         Submission, approval and implementation of details of school travel plan.

 

 

 

Approved

19/19

Commons Act 2006: In the Matter of an Application to Register Harcourt Hill Field, Harcourt Hill, Oxford as a Town or Village Green pdf icon PDF 191 KB

Report by Director of Law and Governance (PN9).

To consider an application on behalf of the Harcourt Hill Residents’ Association made to the County Council as commons registration authority under Section 15 of the Commons Act 2006 to register land known as Harcourt Hill field, Harcourt Hill (“the Application Land”) as a town or village green.

 

Having received the opinion of the Inspector set out at Annex 3 to the report PN9 the Committee is recommended to refuse the application for registration as a new town or village green of the plot of land known as Harcourt Hill Field Oxford. 

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered (PN9) an application on behalf of the Harcourt Hill Residents’ Association made to the County Council as commons registration authority under Section 15 of the Commons Act 2006 to register land known as Harcourt Hill field, Harcourt Hill (“the Application Land”) as a town or village green.

 

Mrs Taplin presented the report and outlined the history to the application. Responding to questions from members she confirmed that information regarding the status of Oxford Preservation Trust and how they held the land was not information revealed by Land registry records nor was ownership by the Trust any guarantee that public access would be available.

 

Councillor Roberts advised that the area was not mentioned in the Neighbourhood Plan as green space

 

RESOLVED: (unanimously) that having received the opinion of the Inspector set out at Annex 3 to the report PN9 to refuse the application for registration as a new town or village green of the plot of land known as Harcourt Hill Field Oxford.