IBSTOCK BRICK LIMITED Knutton Quarry Planning Application
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IBSTOCK BRICK LIMITED Knutton Quarry Planning Application Supporting Statement And Environmental Statement August 2005 DATE ISSUED: August 2005 JOB NUMBER: NL06919 REPORT NUMBER: J01 CLIENT’S REFERENCE: IBSTOCK BRICK 1996 LIMITED KNUTTON QUARRY PLANNING APPLICATION SUPPORTING STATEMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT PREPARED BY: R J Kevan Environmental Scientist APPROVED BY: CA House Director This report has been prepared by Wardell Armstrong LLP with all reasonable skill, care and diligence, within the terms of the Contract with the Client. The report is confidential to the Client and Wardell Armstrong accept no responsibility of whatever nature to third parties to whom this report may be made known. No part of this document may be reproduced without the prior written approval of Wardell Armstrong LLP Ibstock Brick 1996 Limited Knutton Quarry CONTENTS PART 1 – PLANNING APPLICATION AND CERTIFICATES PART 2 – SUPPORTING STATEMENT 1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................ 1 2 SITE DESCRIPTION.......................................................................................... 3 3 PLANNING HISTORY........................................................................................ 4 4 DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS ......................................................................... 5 5 PLANNING POLICY BACKGROUND ................................................................ 8 6 JUSIFICATION AND NEED ............................................................................. 20 7 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ................................................................... 24 PART 3 - ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT 1 INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................. 25 2 NON TECHNICAL SUMMARY......................................................................... 37 3 LANDSCAPE AND VISUAL ASSESMENT....................................................... 41 4 ECOLOGY AND NATURE CONSERVATION .................................................. 61 5 NOISE ASSESSMENT..................................................................................... 83 6 DUST AND AIR QUALITY ASSESSMENT....................................................... 89 7 TRAFFIC IMPACT ASSESSMENT .................................................................. 98 8 HYDROLOGY AND HYDROGEOLOGY .........................................................105 APPENDICES Appendix 1: Photoview 1-9 Appendix 2: Landscape Impact Assessment Table Appendix 3: Habitat Target Notes Appendix 4: Composite Species Map Appendix 5: Habitat Species List Appendix 6: Ratcliffe Criteria Appendix 7: Glossary of Acoustic Terms Appendix 8: Noise Calculations: Soil Stripping & Clay Extraction Appendix 9: Noise Calculation: Clay Extraction Only Appendix 10: Envirocheck Report Appendix 11: Water Level Readings for Silverdale Area DRAWINGS NL06919/01: Proposed Restoration Scheme NL06919/02: Cross Sections of Proposed Excavation NL06919/03: Conceptual Excavation Phasing NL06919/04: Public Footpaths NL06919/05: Photoview Location Plan NL06919\J01 August 2005 Ibstock Brick 1996 Limited Knutton Quarry NL06919/06: Habitat Plan NL06919/07: Sound Level Monitoring Positions SDA/0407/01: Location Plan SDA/0407/02: Drift Geological Plan SDA/0407/03: Solid Geological Plan NL06919\J01 August 2005 Ibstock Brick 1996 Limited Knutton Quarry PART 2 – SUPPORTING STATEMENT 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1.1 This Statement has been prepared by Wardell Armstrong LLP, in accordance with instructions from Ibstock Brick 1996 Limited (the Applicant), hereafter referred to as Ibstock. 1.1.2 The Statement, together with the accompanying Environmental Statement supports a planning application for the deepening of Knutton Quarry, in Staffordshire. 1.1.3 This Statement refers to the term ‘materials’ which refers to the clay, overburden, topsoils and subsoil. 1.2 Background to the Application 1.2.1 Knutton Quarry currently operates under a 1994 planning permission and a varied consent 2002, although there has been a quarry on the site since the 1940s. The existing permission allows for extraction to a limited depth and requires the site to be restored to low level amenity/agricultural use. However the Applicant urgently needs to extract deeper reserves, which are not currently consented, in order to supply the local Parkhouse and Chesterton factory with specific materials for brick making purposes. A more detailed explanation of the need for the additional reserves is given in chapter 6 of this statement, but in short, without access to these deeper materials the Company will face production problems, which could have serious consequences for Ibstock’s future operations in North Staffordshire. 1.2.2 Ibstock is therefore seeking planning permission to excavate the quarry to a depth of 36m AOD, which will release valuable reserves which are effectively sterilised by the current consent. This would enable the Company to extract up to 15.5 million tonnes of clay, which includes 4.5 million tonnes already consented, over a period of 30 years. This would provide long term security of supply to Ibstock’s factories. 1.2.3 It is not intended to alter any of the existing working methods at the quarry and apart from a minor “land swap” to work the quarry more effectively, the operational area of the quarry will remain the same. It is intended to restore the site to a large water feature and therefore no waste materials will be imported as part of the quarry’s restoration. 1.2.4 The planning application documents are divided into three parts. Part 1 contains the planning application forms and certificates whilst Part 2 (Chapters 1-6) of this NL06919\J01 1 August 2005 Ibstock Brick 1996 Limited Knutton Quarry submission refers to geology, planning history, development proposals, planning policy and justification. Part 3; the Environmental Statement (ES) contains the results of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) into the main potential environmental impacts of the development proposals. 1.3 The Applicant Company 1.3.1 Ibstock Brick 1996 Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of CRH plc. Ibstock is the second largest supplier of bricks in the UK, with an annual capacity in the order of one billion bricks per year. 1.3.2 As a result of an acquisition programme in the 1990’s Ibstock took control of Knutton Quarry in August 1996. NL06919\J01 2 August 2005 Ibstock Brick 1996 Limited Knutton Quarry 2 SITE DESCRIPTION 2.1 Location and Surroundings 2.1.1 Knutton Quarry is located just to the west of Knutton village and immediately to the north of Silverdale, approximately 2km west of the centre of Newcastle-under- Lyme in Staffordshire. 2.1.2 The nearest residential properties to the quarry lie approximately 40m to the east on Oak Road. There are also residential properties approximately 80m to the south in Silverdale. Access to the site is gained via Church Lane and Brock Way to the southeast. This access is also shared by a royal mail sorting depot, which lies 100m to the south east of the quarry. Agricultural land lies to the north and west of the site. 2.2 Geology 2.2.1 The site is a westerly extension of the Mid-lower Etruria Formation workings at Knutton. The Etruria Formation is a sequence of predominantly red beds with mottled horizons, thin grey/black shales and often lensoid sandstones. The material comprises flood debris deposited on a broad coastal plain stretching from a landform to the south, around Birmingham, to open seas off the north of England. The sandstones mark the course of rivers, and usually display a fining upwards sequence through siltstones and silty mudstones. The silty mudstones can be utilised in heavy clayware manufacture given a period of weathering to break down the coarser particles. The red coloration of the mudstones is characteristic of deposition on land leaving the mud exposed to air, producing oxidation of the iron compounds. Grey/black coloration indicates deposition under water which prevents oxidation of the iron so that the red coloration characteristics of the Etruria Formation does not develop. 2.2.2 All of these rock types are present in the existing Knutton pit and the proposed deepening as proved by boreholes sunk in 1992, 1995 and 2004. The seams vary significantly in thickness and lateral persistence, often taking a lensoid form. However the seam structure is simple, comprising of a gently dipping syncline (downfold) plunging to the south at around 12 degrees. There is the possibility of a north-west/south-east trending fault in the middle of the site, but evidence is inconclusive and the effects are not greatly relevant in terms of reserves. Where the existing site has not been excavated, it is overlain by boulder clay of variable thickness up to a maximum depth of 3 metres. NL06919\J01 3 August 2005 Ibstock Brick 1996 Limited Knutton Quarry 3 PLANNING HISTORY 3.1.1 Planning permission first granted for quarrying at Knutton in 1947 with the issue of an Interim Development Order (IDO), and operations continued under this IDO permission until 1994, with the granting of a new consent. 3.1.2 The consent (N92/550) extended the IDO site westwards into an area known as Gorsty Bank. It represents a total reserve of some 5.5 million tonnes, approximately 4.5m tonnes of which still remains to be worked. 3.1.3 In August 2002 a further planning permission was granted (N92/550V2) to vary a number of conditions to reflect the new access into the site, allow further extraction in the old