PLANNING APPLICATION

PLANNING APPLICATION Variation of Condition 28 of Planning Consent LW/462/CM(EIA) to amend number of permitted household deliveries on certain Bank and Public Holidays from 10 to 35 Newhaven Energy Recovery Facility PART OF THE INTEGRATED SERVICE FOR EAST SUSSEX COUNTY COUNCIL AND BRIGHTON & HOVE CITY COUNCIL

January 2012 Newhaven ERF Planning Application (Bank Holidays) January 2012

Contents

Planning Application Supporting Statement

1. Introduction ...... 3

2. Site and Surroundings ...... 3

3. Planning Background...... 4

4. Proposals...... 4

5. Policy Context ...... 8

6. Environmental Impact and Sustainability...... 9

7. Conclusions……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….... 9

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Newhaven ERF Planning Application (Bank Holidays) January 2012

Planning Application Supporting Statement

1. Introduction

1.1 Veolia Environmental Services (South Downs) Ltd. (VES) operates the Integrated Waste Management Service (IWMS) for East Sussex County Council and Brighton & Hove City Council. This is a long term contract providing a sustainable approach to managing the area’s municipal waste. Providing this service requires the development and operation of a network of strategically placed facilities, designed to increase , composting and recovery and to divert waste from .

1.2 As part of this service VES has built the Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) at Newhaven, East Sussex. This comprises an ERF with a normal operating capacity of 210,000 tonnes per annum of waste, together with ancillary facilities, on land at North Quay Road, Newhaven.

1.3 Planning consent for the facility was granted on 12 th November 2007 and construction began in May 2008. Commissioning of the facility commenced in mid 2011 and traffic movements resulting from this have given rise to very few complaints (for example on one occasion when vehicles had to be re-routed due to a road closure).

1.4 As a result of changes in the detailed requirements of the Authorities (WCAs) and changes in VES operational needs there is now a greater need for waste deliveries to the North Quay site on Public and Bank Holidays.

2. Site and Surroundings

2.1 The Newhaven ERF site is located at Grid Reference TQ445022 and has an area of approximately 4.74 hectares (including access road). It is located within the North Quay industrial area adjacent to the River Ouse.

2.2 The residential areas of South Heighton and Denton lie beyond the railway and industrial areas to the east. Newhaven itself lies to the south and south west. To the west beyond the river and to the north is open land. Land to the north is within the South Downs National Park.

2.3 A full description of the site and surroundings is contained in the ERF planning application documents.

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Newhaven ERF Planning Application (Bank Holidays) January 2012

3. Planning Background

3.1 A planning application for the ”Construction and operation of an Energy Recovery Facility together with ancillary infrastructure including waste transfer station, administration/visitor centre, landscaping and highway works on land at North Quay, Newhaven, East Sussex” was submitted to the County Council on 21 st November 2005. Planning consent was granted on 12 th November 2007 (reference LW/462/CM(EIA)).

3.2 Condition 28 of the planning consent states:

“No waste or reclaimed materials or residues shall be imported or removed from the site other than between the hours of 07.00 to 19.00 on Mondays to Fridays inclusive and the hours of 07.30 to 18.00 on Saturdays. On Sundays, Public and Bank Holidays, street sweepings and no more than 10 deliveries of household waste, shall be delivered to the site between 08.00 and 17.00, and not outside these hours, unless with the prior written approval of the Waste Planning Authority ”.

3.3 A planning application (ref. LW/653/CM) was submitted in January 2011 seeking to remove the restriction of 10 deliveries of household waste on Bank and Public Holidays in order to cater for the changing pattern of waste collections. In response to the level of local concern at this proposal it is now proposed to withdraw application LW/653/CM. This new application proposes a more limited change which is aimed at providing for direct deliveries by waste collection vehicles only from the local Newhaven, Seaford and Lewes area. Waste that was to be delivered direct by collection vehicles from neighbouring districts will be transferred to larger vehicles before delivery to the ERF and will be limited in terms of number of vehicle movements under this proposal. These changes will help to reduce the number of vehicle movements and avoid the unnecessary transport of waste.

4. Proposals

4.1 In order to meet changing public expectations the WCAs of Eastbourne, Lewes, Hastings, Rother, Wealden and Brighton & Hove have in place or are considering Bank and Public Holiday household waste collections where there would be a need to deliver waste (either directly or indirectly) to the North Quay, Newhaven site. The dates affected include Good Friday and Easter Monday, the May (2) and August Bank Holidays, Bank Holidays in lieu of Christmas Day and Boxing Day (but not Christmas Day and Boxing Day themselves, or Easter Sunday), and New Years Day/Bank Holidays in lieu of New Years Day. In addition there is an operational need for a certain number of deliveries to North Quay from other sites (transfer stations or Household Waste Recycling Sites) in the East Sussex and Brighton & Hove area.

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Newhaven ERF Planning Application (Bank Holidays) January 2012

4.2 In order to fully meet these requirements the total need is estimated to be for up to 70 waste deliveries on any one day. However, in view of concerns within the local community that traffic impacts on Bank and Public Holidays should be minimised, a more limited change is now proposed to the condition to allow street sweepings and up to 35 deliveries of household waste on Bank and Public Holidays. This would enable local waste collections (Lewes District) to be delivered directly to the ERF and for waste from adjoining districts (Eastbourne and Wealden) to be transferred from collection vehicles to larger vehicles at transfer stations for delivery to the ERF. Together these measures will reduce the need for the movement of waste to transfer facilities elsewhere and then back to the ERF on a weekday, thus minimising the number of road vehicle trips required and any consequent environmental effects.

4.3 The proposed maximum household waste deliveries on Bank and Public Holidays of 35 compares with 10 deliveries provided for in the existing condition, and a normal weekday total of approximately 90 deliveries. It is not proposed to change the existing limit for Sunday deliveries.

4.4 The ability to make some direct local deliveries and to transfer waste from waste transfer stations to the ERF on Public and Bank Holidays would have benefits in reducing the distance waste would need to be transported and/or the time that waste would need to remain at a transfer station. It will also enable WCAs to operate more efficiently and cost effectively by replicating their normal weekday collection and delivery patterns. Landfill sites are not available to use on Public and Bank Holidays and there is not expected to be capacity remaining to use out- of-county ERFs which are currently having to be utilised to manage waste arisings on these days, and out of county movements impose additional environmental and financial costs. Under the current permission WCA collection vehicles will need to deliver their loads to a transfer station where they will be stored until the next working day after the Bank/Public Holiday when the waste will be collected in bulker lorries and transported to the Newhaven facility. This means that waste form the local area would need to be moved out of the area and then back again when delivery to the ERF was permitted, thus creating additional and unnecessary road trips. By allowing some direct deliveries of collected waste to the ERF on Bank and Public Holidays unnecessary transfer movements by bulker lorries will be removed from the public highway network. This would have clear benefits in terms of traffic volumes and road safety.

4.5 The proposal under application LW/653/CM was based on some household waste collections from outside Lewes District (from Eastbourne and Wealden) being delivered directly to the ERF in collection vehicles. As these collections would be better placed in relation to the available transfer facilities it is now proposed that the waste will be transferred to bulker vehicles prior to delivery to the ERF, thereby reducing the number of vehicle movements delivering to the facility.

4.6 Any additional deliveries to the ERF on Bank and Public Holidays would be in accordance with the schedule to the existing legal agreement under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. The principal route

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would therefore be via the A26 and Drove Road/North Quay Road. Other routes would only be used where necessary to enable local waste collections to be carried out, or where required on a temporary basis by the emergency services, in accordance with paragraph 2 of the schedule. Any potential impacts on residential areas would therefore be minimised.

4.7 The paragraphs below consider the potential impacts from the additional traffic movements in the local area as a result of the proposal. Tables 1 and 2 show baseline traffic data for the A26 between its junctions with the A27 and A259 for relevant holidays in the years 2005 and 2010 (supplied by the Highways Agency).

Table 1 - 2005 Southbound Northbound Total Flow Vehicles over 5.2m Total Flow Vehicles over 5.2m 25 March 4827 338 4894 367 28 march 4554 246 5201 255 02 May 4449 285 5239 283 30 May 4389 303 5127 292 29 August 4946 307 N/A N/A

Table 2 - 2010 Southbound Northbound Total Flow Vehicles over 5.2m Total Flow Vehicles over 5.2m 02 April 4629 389 4323 380 05 April 4841 252 5448 283 03 May 4649 284 5209 276 31 May 4827 285 5431 304 30 August 5084 285 5945 309

4.8 This data shows that the traffic flows were broadly similar for the two years, with either small increases or decreases over the five year period depending on the particular holiday, both for total traffic and for vehicles over 5.2 metres. The change proposed by this planning application (i.e. 35 movements each way minus 10 as currently permitted = + 25 movements each way) would result in an increase of around 0.5% in total traffic flows (within the range + 0.42% to + 0.58%) when compared with the figures in the above tables. The tables show that the proportion of larger vehicles in the total traffic flow was relatively low (in the range from 5.2% to 8.8%) and this is as would be expected for holiday traffic. If it is assumed for the purposes of assessing a worst case effect that all the

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additional vehicles fall into the “over 5.2m” category, then the additional movements as a proportion of the larger vehicle flow would be in the range + 6.4% to + 10.2%.

4.9 Guidelines for the Environmental Assessment of Road Traffic, Institute of Environmental Assessment (IEA, 1993) suggest that highway links should be assessed where traffic flows will increase by more than 30% (or the number of HGVs will increase by more than 30%). Paragraph 4.6 above indicates that the increase in total traffic would, at around 0.5%, be only one sixtieth of this guideline figure, and that the increase in HGV traffic would at most be around one third of the guideline figure (bearing in mind that the baseline HGV figure is itself low due to holiday conditions.

4.10 The IEA guidelines also suggest that other “specifically sensitive areas” should be assessed where traffic flows would increase by 10% or more. In the case of the current application the route is not considered to pass through sensitive areas. As indicated in paragraph 4.4 above the route taken by the majority of the additional vehicles (i.e. all except those making collections in the local area or being diverted due to an emergency) will be direct from North Quay to the A26 (a strategic route serving Newhaven Port and several industrial areas). This route does not pass though predominantly residential areas. The total traffic increase of around 0.5% would in any case be only one twentieth of the 10% guideline figure. The IEA guidance also indicates that “at a basic level, it should therefore be assumed that projected changes in traffic of less than 10% create no discernable environmental impact”.

4.11 In the light of the above it is considered that there would be no significant or even noticeable impact on the environment or on residential amenity as a result of the proposed change. It should also be remembered that there will not be an increase in overall weekly traffic as a result of this application – if additional collections or transfers are undertaken on Bank or Public Holidays there will be an equivalent reduction in movements at other times in the week.

4.12 It is proposed that the condition be reworded as follows:

“No waste or reclaimed materials or residues shall be imported or removed from the site other than between the hours of 07.00 to 19.00 on Mondays to Fridays inclusive and the hours of 07.30 to 18.00 on Saturdays. On Sundays street sweepings and no more than 10 deliveries of household waste, shall be delivered to the site between 08.00 and 17.00. On Public and Bank Holidays street sweepings and no more than 35 deliveries of household waste shall be delivered to the site between 08.00 and 17.00. No waste or reclaimed materials or residues shall be imported or removed from the site outside these hours, unless with the prior written approval of the Waste Planning Authority ”.

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5. Policy Context

5.1 Planning policies for waste management are set against a background of European directives and national legislation that seek to achieve more sustainable forms of waste management. Key national planning policies are set out in PPS10, Planning for Sustainable Waste Management, July 2005. The thrust of UK and European waste policy is to seek to move away from a reliance on landfill disposal and concentrate on , re-use and recycling. The importance of safeguarding and enhancing existing waste management facilities is recognised.

5.2 The main regional and local policy context for waste management and related proposals is provided by the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) for the South East (the South East Plan) and the saved policies of the East Sussex and Brighton & Hove Waste Local Plan adopted in 2006. These documents, together with the adopted Lewes District Local Plan (March 2003), comprise the relevant part of the statutory development plan for the area. Under Government proposals the status of the RSS element of the development plan is under review. Because of the very minor nature of the current proposals regional policies do not have any direct bearing on this planning application.

5.3 Policy WLP13 of the East Sussex and Brighton & Hove Waste Local Plan sets out criteria for recycling, transfer and materials recovery facilities and supports facilities within permitted waste management sites. Policy WLP5 recognises the importance of safeguarding existing sites. Policy WLP6 deals with expansions or alterations to existing waste management facilities and indicates that these will be permitted, subject to other policies where relevant, where required to meet current environmental standards, improve operational efficiency or where they would contribute to net self sufficiency. The current proposals involve minor operational changes at an approved sustainable waste facility and will enable more efficient operation of the IWMS contract. They are therefore considered to be in accordance with these policies. The proposals are also in accordance with the wider objectives of the plan in terms of the reduction of waste to landfill, provision of integrated waste management, increasing recycling and recovery rates in line with targets and protection of the environment.

5.4 The proposals are also compatible with Policy 35 which seeks to protect amenity (for the reasons set out in section 4 above) and would not give rise to adverse impacts requiring offsetting under Policy 40. In terms of Policy 36 (Transport Considerations) the proposed traffic levels on Bank and Public Holidays would be at a level below the normal weekday operation of the facility and would not therefore give rise to any issues as regards the adequacy of the access or network capacity.

5.5 By contributing to the sustainable management of waste the proposals and helping to minimise transport movements are also compatible with the emerging policy framework in the Draft Waste and Minerals Plan for East Sussex, South Downs and Brighton & Hove published for consultation in October 2011, in particular Policy WMP

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17 (transport) and Policy WMP21 (existing facilities). They are also considered acceptable under Policy WMP 24 (general amenity) and WMP 25 (traffic impacts).

6. Environmental Impact and Sustainability

6.1 The Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2011 set out criteria for assessing whether proposals should be subject to a formal Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The ERF proposals were subject to full Environmental Impact Assessment (under the earlier 1999 Regulations), and an Environmental Statement dated October 2005 was submitted with the planning application.

6.2 The present proposals represent very minor changes to the permitted arrangement for deliveries of waste to the ERF facility. Having considered the nature of the development in the context of the previous submissions and any cumulative impacts likely to arise it is concluded that no formal EIA or other environmental report is necessary in respect of the current proposals and no change to the conclusions of the EIA arise.

7. Conclusions

7.1 This statement is submitted in support of a planning application for the variation of Condition 28 of planning consent LW/462/CM(EIA) for the ERF facility at North Quay Road, Newhaven,

7.2 The ERF is the key facility for the IWMS. The changes proposed will contribute to sustainable waste management by helping to meet the aspirations of the WCAs to offer enhanced collections during holiday periods, support the operational efficiency of the IWMS contract, and help to ensure that waste can be removed from waste transfer stations in a timely manner without the need for unnecessary transport of the waste.

7.2 The proposals do not conflict with national waste policy or the provisions of the Development Plan and represent a minor operational change at an approved waste site that will contribute to efficient and sustainable waste management practices. There would be no conflict with policies for the protection of the environment and residential amenity.

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