Agenda, decisions and minutes

Councillor Fitzgerald-O’Connor advised that she was the local member for Items 6, 7 and 8.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 7 September 2020 (PN3) and to receive information arising from them.

The minutes of the meeting held on 7 September 2020 were approved.

This Planning & Regulation Committee will be held virtually in order to conform with current guidelines regarding social distancing. To facilitate new arrangements during the current situation we are asking that requests to speak are sent to graham.warrington@oxfordshire.gov.uk no later than 9am Tuesday 13 October together with a written statement of your presentation. The statement can, however, be provided at a later date but no later than 9 am 2 working days before the meeting (Thursday 15 October) and is made available to members of the Committee to ensure that if there are connection issues preventing your participation in the meeting then your views can still be considered.

Where a meeting is held virtually and the addressee is unable to participate remotely their written submission will be accepted. Written submissions should be no longer than 1 A4 sheet.

Application A: Retrospective planning application to extend recycled soil and aggregate area to NAP Grab Hire Ltd.’s adjacent site permitted under P11/V0615/CM/ 11/00615/CM (MW.0049/11); and

Application B: Retrospective Section 73 application for change of use from agriculture to site for the import, storage and screening of waste soils to create topsoil, without complying with conditions 5, 10, 13 and 15 of permission P11/V0615/CM/ 11/00615/CM (MW.0049/11)

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

The report relates to two interlinked applications that were deferred from Planning & Regulation Committee on 20 July 2020, to enable further information to be provided to enable a decision to be made. This report considers the further information provided as requested by members and whether permission should be granted (application MW.0134/19) for an extension area to store the screened soils from the waste soils operation granted under planning permission MW.0049/11. The report also considers further information provided as requested by members and whether permission should be granted (MW.0135/19) to vary conditions 5, 10, 13 and 15, to regularise the current operations on site and allow for aggregate crushing, increase stockpile heights, amend the existing boundary planting and increase HGV movements, contrary to permission MW0049/11.

The applications were reported to Committee on 20 July 2020 at the request of the County Councillor. This was due to objections raised by three parish councils and various local residents. There are concerns for both the extension area and the request for variation to the named conditions due to the increased operations. These concerns are largely related to the consequent increase in HGV movements of expanded operations and the adverse impact on the local highways network and adverse impact on the amenity of local residents.

The report outlines the further information received and the recommendation of the Assistant Director for Strategic Infrastructure and Planning.

The development accords with the Development Plan as a whole and with individual policies within it, as well as with the NPPF. The proposals are to regularise the existing operations on site, for the extended site area, concrete crushing, increased stockpile heights, reduced vegetation and increased HGV movements.

It is RECOMMENDED that subject to the applicant entering into a routeing agreement to require all vehicles to be routed to and from the A34 via the A338 and the A420, to avoid the A415 between Frilford Junction and the Marcham Interchange and the junction of the A415 and the A420 at Kingston Bagpuize, the Assistant Director for Strategic Infrastructure and Planning be authorised to:

i)          approve application no. MW.0134/19 subject to conditions the detailed wording of which to be determined by the Assistant Director for Strategic Infrastructure and Planning including the conditions set out in Annex 2 to the report PN6; and

ii)        approve application MW.0135/19 subject to conditions the detailed wording of which to be determined by the Assistant Director for Strategic Infrastructure and Planning including the conditions set out in Annex 3 to the report PN6.

The Committee considered a report (PN6) relating to two interlinked applications which had been deferred by Committee on 20 July 2020. The report now before the Committee set out further information which had been requested by members to enable them to consider whether permission should be granted for application MW.0134/19 for an extension area to store the screened soils from the waste soils operation granted under planning permission MW.0049/11 and application MW.0135/19 to vary conditions 5, 10, 13 and 15, to regularise the current operations on site and allow for aggregate crushing, increase stockpile heights, amend the existing boundary planting and increase HGV movements, contrary to permission MW0049/11. The applications had been originally reported to Committee at the request of the County Councillor due to objections raised by three parish councils and various local residents with regard to both the extension area and the request for the variation to the named conditions due to the increased operations. Those concerns had been largely related to the consequent increase in HGV movements of expanded operations and the adverse impact on the local highways network and amenity of local residents.

Having presented the report Ms Bolster then responded to questions from members.

Councillor Fitzgerald-O’Connor – Vale of White Horse officers were currently in the process of talking to the landowner about submitting an application to regularise the activities on site but that was unlikely to be resolved within the next month or so. Regarding vehicle numbers she confirmed that currently permitted movements were 3 in and 3 out while the applicant’s statement said they were running at 14 in and 14 out.  They were requesting 20 in and 20 out. The survey carried by OCC in August showed an average of 17 in and 17 out.

Councillor Roberts – the rights of way informative would not be as binding as a condition but the applicants were fully aware that the right of way issue needed to be resolved and it would be open to the countryside team to, if necessary consider enforcement action as the rights of way authority.

Councillor Mathew – both applications were retrospective having been operating for about 18 months – 2 years.

Councillor Webber – vehicles were required to have a waste transfer not showing where waste was collected from which would then show they were travelling on the correct route.

The Committee noted the following comment submitted by David Warr (Kingston Baqpuize Parish Council) who had spoken in that the Parish Council remained disappointed that the proper enforcement actions had not been taken at the appropriate time.

Paul Donovan regretted that the Committee had not rejected this application out of hand at the last meeting but had seemed more prepared to accept the deliberately misleading submissions of a serial transgressor of rules and regulations and to respond to the implied pressure of the OCC planning team, who, in his and his wife’s view had been concerned to cover up their own enforcement shortcomings and get this application passed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37/20

Report by the Assistant Director for Strategic Infrastructure and Planning (PN7).

The planning application to extend the existing Shellingford Quarry to the west for mineral extraction was taken to Planning & Regulation Committee on 15 July 2019. The resolution to grant planning permission was subject to the signing of Section 106 agreement.

Dust was outlined as a key issue and concern by the committee. Approval was granted subject to a detailed dust management plan to be submitted to committee for final approval before work commenced having first been submitted to the public health and the environmental health teams and reflecting the comments raised by members to secure a robust and meaningful scheme.

The planning application was finally issued on the 24 September 2020. The applicant has now submitted a Dust Management Plan (DMP) under details pursuant to condition 25 of the planning permission P18/V2610/CM (MW.0104/18). The DMP was informally sent out for rounds of consultation in January and March, and document is attached to the report under Annex 1. The DMP is required in order to monitor and mitigate any potential air quality significant impact on local residents.

It is RECOMMENDED that ApplicationMW.0090/20 be approved.

On 15 July the Committee had resolved to grant planning permission to extend the existing Shellingford Quarry to the west for mineral extraction subject to the signing of a Section 106 agreement. At that time the Committee had also outlined dust as a key issue and concern and so approval had also been subject to a detailed dust management plan to be submitted to committee for final approval before work commenced having first been submitted to the public health and the environmental health teams and reflecting the comments raised by members to secure a robust and meaningful scheme.

The applicant had now submitted a Dust Management Plan (DMP) under details pursuant to condition 25 of the planning permission P18/V2610/CM (MW.0104/18). That plan had been informally sent out for rounds of consultation in January and March and had been attached to the report (PN7) which also considered the detail and responses received to it.

Matthew Case presented the report and responded to questions from members of the Committee.

Councillor Fitzgerald-O’Connor – he confirmed that using sticky pads to monitor was not as effective as real time monitoring. There was also a cost element between the two with the latter more expensive.  He understood the sticky pads would be taken away every two weeks for analysis.

Councillor Roberts – he understood the site was monitored 2 to 3 times per annum and confirmed there would be a daily visual log and record of what work was being done on the site and weather conditions to support the sticky pad analysis.

Councillor Mathew – the recommendation had been based on the information in the dust management plan and it was for the Committee to consider whether or not the system as recommended should be supplemented with periodical real time monitoring.  However, the PM10 particles had not been shown so far to be that significant.

Mike Wright on behalf of Shellingford parish meeting group confirmed their rejection of the Revised Dust Management Plan. There had been no conclusive monitoring to date of harmful particulates, nor was any rigorous monitoring proposed. They wished to make two key points:

Firstly, the Plan failed to meet the commitments, made by the Applicant, at the July 2019 Council Meeting, as documented in the minutes and who had stated  that “monitoring would be undertaken at the school.”  The Council’s approval had been based on that commitment, which the Applicant was now failing to honour.

Secondly, visual assessment and sticky pads did not quantify dangerous PM10 dust pollution as stated by the applicant.

Subjective visual assessment of fugitive dust, to determine when mitigating action was triggered, was both unscientific and pointless. Sticky pads did not quantify particulate levels or size and their use was, by definition, retrospective. PM10 and 2.5 emissions were both invisible and the most dangerous to health. The use of sticky pads contradicted clear guidance given by Public Health England as stated in the officer report. Indeed, the Applicant had stated: “The sticky pad method is not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38/20

Report by the Assistant Director for Strategic Infrastructure and Planning (PN8)

This is an update report to that which was taken to Planning & Regulation Committee on 1 June 2020 when it was resolved subject to completion of a legal agreement and routeing agreement to grant planning permission to the application subject to conditions to be determined by the Director of Planning and Place, to include those set out in Annex 1 of the Committee report of 1 June 2020. The purpose of this report is solely to update the committee that condition 4 in Annex 1 of the original report should be for six years of mineral extraction rather than five.

That the Committee’s resolution of 1 June 2020 to approve application no. MW.0066/19 subject to the applicant signing a Section 106 agreement for the matters outlined in Annex 2 of the committee report of 1 June 2020 and a routeing agreement to ensure that HGVs follow the route approved for HGVs associated with the existing quarry and subject to conditions to be determined by the Director of Planning and Place, to include those set out in Annex 1 of the Committee report of 1 June 2020 be amended such that condition 4 reads as follows:

Temporary consent – extraction completed by six years from the date of commencement as notified pursuant to condition 2 and restoration completed by the date seven years from the date of commencement.

The Planning & Regulation Committee on 1 June 2020 had resolved subject to completion of a legal agreement and routeing agreement to grant planning permission to this application subject to conditions to be determined by the Director of Planning and Place. This report (PN8) had been brought to update the Committee that condition 4 to that decision needed to be amended to allow for six years of mineral extraction rather than five.

Mr Periam presented the report.

Councillor Fitzgerald-O’Connor advised that having spoken to the neighbours at the site who had no objection and there being no objection from the Parish Council she moved the recommendation as set out in the report.  Councillor Johnston having seconded the motion it was RESOLVED (nem con) that the Committee’s resolution of 1 June 2020 to approve application no. MW.0066/19 subject to the applicant signing a Section 106 agreement for the matters outlined in Annex 2 of the committee report of 1 June 2020 and a routeing agreement to ensure that HGVs follow the route approved for HGVs associated with the existing quarry and subject to conditions to be determined by the Director of Planning and Place, to include those set out in Annex 1 of the Committee report of 1 June 2020 be amended such that condition 4 reads as follows:

Temporary consent – extraction completed by six years from the date of commencement as notified pursuant to condition 2 and restoration completed by the date seven years from the date of commencement.