Agenda item

Report by the Deputy Director for Environment & Economy (Strategy & Infrastructure Planning) (PN9).

The proposal is to allow the importation and processing of waste soils and stone in order to construct the noise attenuation bunds (as permitted by West Oxfordshire District Council (WODC)). The applicant wishes to import circa 277,000 m³ of material required to create the bunds over a site area of approximately 11.6 ha (district permission). The importation of material would create 20 HGV movements per day over a five year period.

It is RECOMMENDED that Application MW.0160/15 (15/04481/CM) be granted subject to conditions to be determined by the Deputy Director for Environment and Economy (Strategy and Infrastructure Planning) to include the following:

(i)               The development shall be carried out strictly in accordance with the particulars of the development, plans and specifications contained in the application except as modified by conditions of this permission.

(ii)             The development to be commenced within a period of three years from the date of the permission.

(iii)            Processing of waste to construct the noise attenuation bunds shall cease within 5 years of the date of permission. All buildings, plant and machinery associated with the processing of waste shall be removed within the 5 years of date of permission and site restored in accordance with the restoration scheme specified in Planning Statement (dated December 2015) and Proposed Noise Attenuation Screen Bund Plan (Drg No. 4C). 

(iv)           No operations authorised or required by this permission shall be carried out and plant shall not be operated, other than during the following hours:

(i)        Between 0800 and 1630 hours Mondays to Fridays

(ii)       Between 0800 and 1300 hours on Saturdays

(iii)     No such operations shall take place on Sundays and Public and Bank Holidays and Saturdays immediately following Public and Bank Holiday Fridays.

(v)             From the date of issuing permission the operator shall maintain records of all waste entering and leaving the site for all operations within the red line area and shall be made available to the Waste Planning Authority within 14 days on request.

(vi)           The output of residual waste from the processing operation shall not exceed 20% of the total amount of waste imported to the site per annum.

(vii)           HGV movements related to importation and export of waste to and from the site shall not exceed a maximum of 20 per day (10 in, 10 out).

(viii)         From the date of issuing permission the operator shall maintain records of all HGV movements entering and leaving the site for all operations within the red line area and shall be made available to the Waste Planning Authority within 14 days on request.

(ix)           Stockpiles of waste shall not exceed a height of 5 metres.

(x)             All vehicles, plant and machinery operated within the site shall be serviced and maintained in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions and, where silencers are specified by the manufacturer for any vehicles, plant or machinery; they shall be installed and retained in use.

(xi)           No mud or dust shall be deposited on the public highway.

(xii)          The concreted surface of the site and site access shall be maintained in a good state of repair and kept clean and free from mud and other debris at all times until such time as the site is no longer required for these operations.

(xiii)         All completed noise attenuation bunds shall be sown with a grass seed mix and kept free of weeds within 6 months of completion.

(xiv)        No reversing bleepers or other means of audible warning of reversing vehicles shall be fixed to, or used on, any vehicle operating on the site, other than those which use white noise.

(xv)          No development shall take place except in accordance with the dust suppression measures specified in the Planning Statement (Dated December 2015), and Dust Management and Mitigation Plan approved under Planning Permission 14/1178/P/FP.

(xvi)        Noise emitted from on-site crushing and screening should not exceed the background noise level (LA90, 1h) by more than 10 dB(A) at the nearest noise sensitive façades during normal working hours

(xvii)       No development shall take place until a Sustainable Drainage System Scheme, including soakage tests for the recycling and processing area is submitted to and approved in writing by the Waste Planning Authority. Drainage directly into any watercourses will not be permitted.

(xviii)      All fuel tanks shall be sited on a concrete base surrounded by bund walls capable of retaining at least 110% of the tank volume and any spillages from draw or fill pipes.

(xix)        The aftercare of the site shall be undertaken for a period of 5 years in accordance with the Aftercare Scheme specified in the Planning Statement (dated December 2015).

The Committee considered (PN9) a proposal to allow importation and processing of waste soils and stone in order to construct the noise attenuation bunds (as permitted by West Oxfordshire District Council (WODC)).

In accordance with the terms of his interest as set out in Minute 4/16 Councillor Owen took no part in the discussion or voting on this item.

Presenting the report Mr Case also referred to the addenda sheet which set out clarification of vehicle movements, suggested amendments to conditions (vi) and (vii) and a revised recommendation that if the application was approved then that should be subject to further consultation with regard to the changes to vehicle movements.

Officers then responded to questions from:

Councillor Purse – the site was no longer used for motorcross but was used for shooting. In addition the district council permission was to address noise problems for the shooting range but did not allow for importation of waste. Any proposals to use the site for any other use would require a further application.

Councillor Phillips – the site was currently being used for shooting and there had been some complaints regarding that and in respect of the previous motorcross use. Also with regard to the timescale for construction of the bunds, which she had suggested seemed a bit excessive, the application had been made for 5 years in order to import, process and construct. It might not take 5 years and could be completed within a shorter timescale an application had been submitted for 5 years to avoid further applications for extensions. The district council had approved the elevation and height of the bunds.

Councillor Reynolds – district councils were able to grant permission for bunds.

Councillor Johnston felt that with 26 tonne per vehicle it would be easy to achieve 176,000 tonnes pa and therefore the scheme could be completed within 2 years. He had concerns regarding overtipping and the operation would need to be carefully monitored to avoid that.

Mr Case confirmed that importation of material was by cubic meter and not tonnes and that the hgv movements were a limit. The monitoring and enforcement team would monitor the operation including bund construction.

Responding to Councillor Cherry Mr Periam confirmed that if the Committee so required a routeing agreement could be imposed.

Peter Butler a local resident referred to the environmental impact of lorries and traffic movements on local villages. He had estimated that 277,000 cubic meters of waste equated to 443,700 tonnes of material and with a maximum of 20% for re-export 531,840 tonnes of material required to build the bunds and with a limit of 80,000 per annum that equated to 6/7 years of blight. The number of vehicle movements had now risen from 10 in and 10 out to 20 in and 20 out. He had no complaints regarding the applicant who had been helpful throughout the process but he felt that a proposal agreeing 55,000 lorry movements over 5 years seemed rather a lot to allay complaints regarding noise from shooting activities. He asked at the very least for the application to be deferred to inform the local community of the revised proposals and to seek the views of the Enstone parish council.

He then responded to questions from:

Councillor Lilly – he felt the term blight was wholly justified when describing a scenario of lorries over 25 tonnes traversing through villages such as Church Enstone. The B4030 was a very narrow road with an increased risk of accidents and the junction with the A44 made exiting from Church Enstone particularly dangerous.  He confirmed that his advice was not given in a professional context but as a resident.

David Einig confirmed that permission had already been granted with approved levels of material on site. As a local person it was in his interests to maintain a good professional reputation which meant doing all he could to carry out the development correctly and to a high standard.  All the vehicles were in his ownership and fitted with tracker devices. While endeavouring to fulfil the permission granted by the district council he would work with local people to mitigate its effects. He confirmed a travel plan was in place.

Councillor Tanner considered the application to be totally out of proportion and he had been surprised that the district council had granted permission. He felt the application for importation and processing of waste should opposed and he so moved. The motion was seconded by Councillor Purse.

However, following further advice he, with his seconder’s agreement, withdrew his motion to enable further clarification regarding the merits of the proposed bunds.

RESOLVED: (on a motion by Councillor Phillips, seconded by Councillor Bartholomew, and carried by 9 votes to 0) that Application MW.0160/15 be deferred to allow a further 21 day consultation to allow consultees, including the parish council, to comment on the revised information.