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ITEM PN10

PLANNING & REGULATION COMMITTEE

MINERALS AND WASTE PLANNING APPLICATION

Report by Head of Sustainable Development

Development proposed:

Extension of existing hard standing at the old sewage works Clifton Hampden to allow for increased composting of green waste and cardboard.

Location: Land adjacent to Clifton Hampden Sewage Works

Applicant: Land Network Boxon Ltd

Application No: P05/W0818/CM

District Council area: South Oxfordshire

1. Permission for a green waste composting site in the green belt near Clifton Hampden was approved in October 2004 (Ref.P04/W0260/CM, Minute no.56/04).This site is now operational and the applicants, Land Network Boxon, are seeking to extend the site and increase the amount of green waste they can import for composting.
2. The Vale of White Horse District Council (VOWH) are currently trialling a green waste bin system whereby a proportion of householders in the Vale can place green waste in a kerbside collection box, alongside paper and cardboard. It is proposed that the waste would be collected once a fortnight by Cleanaway and taken to Culham. The applicants state that this would lead to increased volumes of green waste, cardboard, paper and some wood for composting. There may also be an opportunity to take green waste from South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC)in the future.

Location

3. The application site lies in the green belt, north of the A415 near to the UKAEA Culham Laboratory.

Site and its Setting (Plan 1) (download as .doc file)

4. The application site is located around 350m west of Clifton Hampden and 250m east of Culham Laboratory. The operational site comprises an area of hardstanding approximately 2 hectares in area, situated at the end of a 500m concrete track. The hardstanding is part of the former RAF airfield and the concrete track is accessed from the A415 via a gateway to the east of the main Culham Laboratory entrance. The track has gates at the access point which mean that the site can be secured out of hours.
5. The site is fairly flat though it sits in a wide plain of land that rises gently from the river Thames in the south towards Oxford.
6. Clifton Hampden Footpath No.10 passes along the eastern boundary of the application site, on the far side of the UKAEA security fence.

Background and Details of the Development

7. As a result of the VOWH kerbside green waste collection, the volume of green waste and cardboard for composting will increase. To deal with the anticipated increase effectively, the applicants are seeking to double the size of the concrete pad on which material is stored and increase the amount of green waste they are authorised to import. (Plan 2) (download as .doc file)
8. No change to the authorised operating hours is sought but the applicants are seeking permission to open the site on Sundays and Bank holidays to accept waste from Civic Amenity Sites. The additional opening hours would be solely for accepting waste; no operations e.g. shredding or turning would take place.
9. In line with a request from Clifton Hampden Parish Council, deliveries to the existing site were restricted by condition to 6 deliveries a day. The applicants would like to increase this to 12 deliveries a day. The existing application also restricted the height of composting bunds to 3m and the applicants would like to increase this to 4m, stating that the green waste quickly reduces to 3m.
10. Finally, a permanent rather than temporary consent is being sought for the whole site. The existing permission has a 5 year temporary permission as the Environmental Health Officer objected to the application and a temporary permission gave OCC a means of curtailing the operation if odour was a consistent nuisance. The applicants state that they are seeking a permanent consent on the grounds that investment would be needed to build the additional concrete area and that it can be difficult to get a waste management licence from the Environment Agency in the case of temporary operations.
11. Green waste would be sourced from nearby civic amenity sites, various small sources and two local authority kerbside green bin collections. All source areas are within a 10-15 mile radius of the application site. The applicants estimate that 30-40,000 tonnes of green waste and cardboard would be brought onto the site for composting each year. The material would be composted over 17 weeks prior to use on adjoining farmland. A small amount of compost may be bagged and returned to Civic Amenity sites for sale.
12. The site would function as it does currently and there would be no additional machinery. However, a skip may be required on site to place non compostable items such as plastic flower pots and bin liners.
13. County Council figures indicate that the County Council currently receives around 3,000 tonnes of green waste at its Civic Amenity Sites and that the VOWH and Oxford City Council currently generate around 1,000 tonnes of green waste per year. Although the VOWH are currently trailing kerb side collections which would increase the amount of green waste for composting, no district council has implemented a full kerb side collection scheme

Consultations

14. South Oxfordshire District Council – Planning

No objection subject to imposition of conditions to include;

1. Use of land and buildings only for the purposes specified in relation to composting green waste
2. Details and specifications of the weighbridge to be submitted and approved by the Local Planning Authority.
   
   
15. South Oxfordshire District Council–Environmental Health Officer –

Would like details in relation to odour control before commenting:

1. what consideration has been made for the amount of odour this proposal may produce and how far reaching will it be?
2. what management controls if any will be implemented to minimise odour emanating from the compost affecting residents of Clifton Hampden?
3. what physical mechanisms if any will be in place to reduce odour to a minimum?
   
   
16. Clifton Hampden and Burcot Parish Council

Agree to the extension of the green waste composting site. Not prepared to agree to a permanent consent but would be agreeable to a further five years.

17. Environment Agency

The site currently has an exemption from Waste Management Licensing registered. The quantities of waste described in the new application are over the limit allowed within the exemption so a Waste Management Licence will be required. The infrastructure on site including site drainage and site security will be controlled through the licence conditions.

18. Oxford Green Belt Network

Pleased to learn of extension of green waste collection by District Councils. Given that the facility for composting green waste is already in existence. No objection to what is proposed. Any impact on the openness and visual amenity of the green belt is likely to be slight in this location

19. OCC Rights of Way Officer

Public Footpath 10 Clifton Hampden runs to east of the site and must not be reduced in width in any way. Need to ensure that measures are taken to ensure that any liquids/run off are not allowed to drain onto the footpath. No materials, plant, or temporary structures of any kind should be deposited on or adjacent to the path that may obstruct or dissuade the public from using the route.

20. OCC Transport Development Control

No objections

21. Kemp and Kemp Property Consultants (for UKAEA Culham)

Understand that for security reasons it was required that the clamp was 5 metres from the UKAEA Culham security fence. The application drawing shows the clamp right against the fence. Trust this can be amended.

Highway safety issues: the applicants do not control all of the land within the application site from the A415 to the site gates, therefore cannot access the highway. This is a legal issue that my clients will be investigating. According to security patrols movements to the site already number between 50-80 loads a day. To date there have been a number of near misses between Culham Science centre vehicles and the composting vehicles. The application proposes an increase to 12 movements per day and it is questioned whether this is a true reflection of the number of movements to and from the site based on the above information.

22. Resident of Clifton Hampden

Objects to the application. As a keen walker, finds the noxious smell that emanates from the existing hard standing very unpleasant. Any plans to extend this would only increase the unacceptable smell, especially when the wind is blowing towards Clifton Hampden.

Policy Background

23. Relevant planning policies are set out in Schedule 1 (Annex 1) (download as .doc file). The key policy issues are: development in the green belt, waste management and local environmental issues such as odour, traffic and visual impact

Development in the green belt

24. The Oxfordshire Structure Plan 2016 (as resolved to be adopted) policy G4 states that a Green Belt will be maintained around Oxford to;

1. preserve the special character and landscape setting of Oxford
2. check the growth of Oxford and prevent ribbon development and urban sprawl
3. prevent the coalescence of settlements
4. assist in safeguarding the countryside from encroachment and
5. assist in urban regeneration, by encouraging the recycling of derelict and other urban land.
   
   
25. It goes on to say that development in the green belt will only be permitted if it maintains its openness and does not harm the visual amenities of the green belt.
26. SOLP Policy GB4 states that where new development is permitted, either within, or where it would be conspicuous from the green belt, it should be designed and sited in such a way that its impact on the open, rural nature, rural character and visual amenity of the green belt is minimised. This site falls within the Green Belt identified in the South Oxfordshire Local Plan (SOLP)

Waste Management

27. OSP 2016 policy WM1 states that provision will be made for the treatment and/or disposal of a quantity of waste equivalent to the total quantity of waste produced in Oxfordshire. OSP WM2 says that permission will be granted for facilities which move waste up the waste hierarchy. Policy W3 of the Oxfordshire Minerals and Waste Local Plan 1996 (OMWLP) states that proposals for re use/ recycling will normally be permitted provided that the site is close to the source and market for waste, well related to appropriate parts of the transport network, will not cause unacceptable nuisance in terms of dust, noise smell etc, or be an unacceptable risk to the water environment.
28. OMWLP policy W4 states that proposals for re-use/ recycling will not normally be permitted in the open countryside unless there is established overriding need and there is no other suitable site available. OMWLP W5 requires all waste treatment plant, buildings, machinery and stockpiles to be properly screened from the surrounding landscape.

Comments of Head of Sustainable Development

29. The main issues in considering this application are: impact and acceptability of development in the green belt, consistency with waste management policies and local environmental issues such as odour, traffic and visual impact.
30. Structure and local plan policies seek to encourage provision of waste management facilities to enable management of waste to be moved up the waste hierarchy and for Oxfordshire’s waste to be dealt with locally. This proposal is in principle consistent with the aim to move waste up the hierarchy. However, there is no evidence provided by the applicant to suggest that the quantity of green and cardboard waste available can be sourced locally as the applicant suggests i.e. within a 15 mile radius.

Development in the green belt

31. Planning permission for the existing composting facility was granted on the basis that the three metre high bunds of green waste were akin to agricultural activity which one may expect to see in the green belt. Consequently, the development was not considered to be in conflict with the purposes of the green belt.
32. I have several concerns about this application. The first is that, whilst using an existing concrete pad for composting may be acceptable in the green belt, doubling the size of the pad would require concreting part of a field and would constitute encroachment into the countryside, contrary to SOLP policy GB3 and OSP 2016.
33. The second is that OMWLP policy W4 states that permission for recycling facilities will not normally be permitted in the open countryside unless there is established overriding need and no other appropriate site exists. The application is a reaction to a trial operated by VOWH District Council and success of the trial is not yet known. There are now other composting sites within the County, including one in the vicinity of Sutton Courtenay which is not in the green belt. Therefore, I do not feel that there is an overriding need to expand the concrete pad or increase capacity of the site.
34. My third concern is that the inclusion of cardboard and paper with green waste may constitute inappropriate development in the green belt as composting it would not be akin to agricultural development. Paper and cardboard may cause litter around the site and whilst litter could be controlled through the erection of litter fencing, fencing may be contrary to SOLP policy GB4 as it may impact on the open, rural nature and visual amenity of the green belt.
35. Planning Policy Guidance Note 2 (PPG2) states that exceptional reasons should exist before allowing development in the green belt. Given the County Council figures for green waste, and the proximity of other sites, and potential availability of green waste in the radius proposed, I do not think there is an overriding need or any exceptional circumstances to justify allowing an increase in size and tonnage at the Clifton Hampden site.

Local Environmental Issues

Odour

36. If this development was considered acceptable in all other respects, then (in line with the District Environmental Health Officer (EHO) request) it would be sensible to first request additional information from the applicant to seek to make sure that the expanded development would not give rise to unacceptable odour.

Traffic

37. The proposal involves accessing the A415 via a short stretch of the access road to Culham Laboratories. Whilst Kemp and Kemp indicate there are already many more vehicles movements into and out of the composting site than the 6 allowed by the current permission, it seems unlikely that they all relate to the composting activity. The applicant has advised that a variety of other agricultural vehicles use the same access. In terms of access on the A415, the level of lorry traffic proposed from the composting activity (12 deliveries per day) would be acceptable. I suggest in any event that white lines be painted at the internal junction where the composting access meets the Culham Laboratories access road.

Visual impact

38. I feel that the proposal to increase the height of the bunds and include receipt of cardboard and paper within the green waste would be detrimental to the visual amenity of this site as the bunds would become larger and significantly more visible in the landscape.
39. Kemp and Kemp state that the condition on the previous permission, to keep a 5m space between the Culham Laboratory security fence and the composting bund, had been breached. This issue is being raised with the applicants.
40. The previous application was granted a temporary five year permission so the County Council can monitor the impact of the development and curtail operations in the event that the site was not operated properly or caused environmental harm. I feel that the temporary permission was right therefore militates against considering a permanent permission whilst conditions are not being complied with.

Conclusions

41. Whilst the site is located close to a source and market for green waste and has acceptable access to the highway network, I do not think that established overriding need for additional composting capacity has been demonstrated. Whilst District Councils in Oxfordshire may decide to adopt green waste kerb side recycling schemes in the future, there is already an alternative site which is capable of receiving this waste from this part of central/southern Oxfordshire.
42. There appear to be no overriding reasons to allow this development in the countryside and no exceptional circumstances which justify overriding green belt policy.
    
    
43. The Committee is RECOMMENDED to refuse planning permission for Application No. P05/W0818/CM for the reasons set out below:

CHRIS COUSINS
Head of Sustainable Development

Background papers:
Extension of existing hard standing at the Old Sewage Works, Clifton Hampden to allow for increased composting of green waste and cardboard. File Ref.8.3/5495/2

Sustainable Development Service, Environment and Economy, Speedwell House, Oxford OX1 1NE

Representations made on the application are on this file.

Contact Officer: Joanna Freyther. Tel 01865 815901

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