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North Warwickshire Borough Council Proof of Evidence Jeff Brown North Warwickshire Borough Council Appeal by Harworth Estates Land at Daw Mill Colliery, Tamworth Road, Arley, CV7 8HS PROOF of Evidence of Jeffrey Brown BA, DipTP, MRTPI Planning Inspectorate’s Ref: APP/R3705/W/16/3149827 Council’s Ref: PAP/2014/0339 January 2017 - 1 - North Warwickshire Borough Council Proof of Evidence Jeff Brown 1. Preliminaries 1.1 My name is Jeffrey Brown. I have worked in the Planning Division at North Warwickshire since 1974. From 2006 I have been Head of Development Control. 1.2 I hold a BA degree in Geography and I have a Diploma in Town Planning. I am a Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute. 1.3 I have worked in North Warwickshire in both the forward planning and development control sections and have a thorough understanding of the Borough. 1.4 The evidence in this Proof is true and is given in accordance with the guidance of my professional institution. 1.5 I provide a summary of my evidence for this Inquiry in Section 2. 1.6 The Proof will describe the appeal site and outline the national and local planning policy background. As the site is in the Green Belt the Proof will take a sequential approach first by considering whether the proposal is appropriate or not appropriate development before assessing Green Belt and other harm. The appellant’s material planning considerations will be identified and I will conclude by addressing the final planning balance. 1.7 Many of the documents referred to are Inquiry Core Documents. Other documents will be attached as Appendices. - 2 - North Warwickshire Borough Council Proof of Evidence Jeff Brown 2. Summary 2.1 The appeal site is a former colliery which has been sealed preventing further extraction of coal. It has been cleared of its buildings and coal stacks and appears now as an open area of large concrete hardstandings. It has retained its rail connection to the adjoining railway line. 2.2 The site is in a wholly rural location surrounded by open countryside and within the valley of the River Bourne. There are dispersed dwellings and farmsteads in the surrounding area. It is some distance from the strategic highway network and the surrounding network is rural in character and in highway designation. Routes to that strategic network pass through several road junctions which are approaching their operational capacity. 2.3 The Development Plan for North Warwickshire includes the Core Strategy of 2014; saved policies of the North Warwickshire Local Plan 2006 and the Arley Neighbourhood Plan 2016. 2.4 The Council has recently published a new draft Local Plan for North Warwickshire which reviews the Core Strategy in light of recent housing and employment needs arising from local growth and as a consequence of growth from the Borough’s urban neighbours. 2.5 The appeal site is in the Green Belt. 2.6 The site is not included in either the Core Strategy or the draft Local Plan as an allocated site for new development. 2.7 There is an approved restoration plan for the appeal site. The Council gives this substantial weight as it is recognised as a lawful plan by the Warwickshire County Council acting as the Minerals Planning Authority. 2.8 The appeal proposal involves the industrial redevelopment of the site for a B2 General Industrial use including new buildings, outside storage areas ad new infrastructure. The appellant argues that the site, as a rail served site is “rare”, providing an opportunity for an occupier to use the rail connection so as to create a sustainable form of development meeting the Council’s employment needs and providing local employment. 2.9 The Council considers that this proposal is not appropriate development in the Green Belt. As a consequence it is harmful to the Green Belt. It thus carries the presumption of a refusal. Moreover the proposals result in substantial actual harm to the openness of the Green Belt. It also conflicts - 3 - North Warwickshire Borough Council Proof of Evidence Jeff Brown with the purpose of safeguarding the countryside - one of the purposes of including land within the Green Belt. Green Belt harm is thus considered to be substantial. This harm arises whether the base-line is taken to be the restored site or as the site in its existing state. 2.10 Other harm is caused. There would be significant landscape and visual harm caused as well as cumulative harm caused by adverse impacts on residential amenity through levels of noise and light. There would be less than substantial harm to local heritage assets. There would also be harm to bio- diversity. The Highway Authority has not raised an objection subject to off-site mitigation measures for some of the surrounding road junctions. However if such measures are not delivered then harm will be caused. These harms arise whichever base-line is used. 2.11 The Council has assessed the total level of harm and has to balance this against the benefits that the appellant has proposed. The test for this balancing exercise is that the harm has to be clearly outweighed by these benefits. 2.12 The Council does not consider that this test has been passed as the claimed benefits do not clearly outweigh the harm caused. The reasons for this are that the proposal is not considered to be sustainable development; that it does not deliver on its ambition of being rail served, that it is not required to meet the existing and future employment needs of the Borough and that it does not clearly mitigate both Green Belt and other harm 2.13 The conclusion is therefore that planning permission should be refused. - 4 - North Warwickshire Borough Council Proof of Evidence Jeff Brown 3. The Appeal Site a) Description 3.1 The appeal site is that of the former Daw Mill colliery. It is south of the B4098 Tamworth Road about 800 metres east of its junction with the B4114 and just over a kilometre east of Furnace End. The Birmingham to Leicester railway bounds the site to the south and Daw Mill Lane is to the east. To the west is agricultural land. The setting is of a wholly rural character with open agricultural land surrounding the site. Shustoke and Coleshill are 3.3 and 5.3 km respectively to the west and Old Arley is 1.8km to the east. Nuneaton is 6km to the north-east and Coventry is some 8.8km to the east. The M6 and M42 Motorways are several kilometres distant. 3.2 The site is in the valley of the River Bourne and the land rises to both the north and south. To the north the rise is around 20 metres whereas to the south it is some 30 metres. There is mixed woodland and dense continuous scrub land along the northern boundary with the B4098, as is the case to the east along Daw Mill Lane and to the south-east. There is an open outlook to the south and towards the west. The river runs in a substantial culvert under the site before re-emerging near to the attenuation ponds at the western end of the site. In addition the Ballard Brook runs in a culvert under the site from the B4098 to the north-east to join with the River Bourne culvert. There are public footpaths around the periphery of the site. One runs north-south across the site in the location of the attenuation ponds (the M391) and a second runs east–west alongside the railway (the M436). There are other paths both to the north (the M435) and south of the site (the M375 and M376). 3.3 Vehicular access into the site is directly off the B4098 with a right hand turning lane in that road. 3.4 The former colliery operations were generally grouped into two main areas. The mine shafts; coal preparation plant and associated offices, baths, canteen and stores buildings were located in the eastern third of the site. The larger part of the site – some 66% - to the west was used for above ground coal storage and blending operations. The rail sidings ran along the southern boundary. 3.5 All of the former colliery buildings, plant, equipment and structures have been demolished apart from three smaller ones; the memorial garden and the electricity substation. The remaining surface coal stocks have also now been removed but the former rail sidings and connections remain. The site now comprises two distinct and generally flat areas both hard surfaced - 5 - North Warwickshire Borough Council Proof of Evidence Jeff Brown corresponding to the areas described in general terms above. The western part includes the retained rail sidings and connections and is at a lower level than the eastern part closest to Daw Mill Lane and the B4098. 3.6 The appeal site amounts to 31.12 hectares. This encompasses the operational areas of the former colliery as described above and the attenuation ponds. The appeal site comprises some 70% of the total land holding. 3.7 There are residential properties in the locality. The closest is Daw Mill Cottage in Daw Mill Lane to the south-east of the site (50 metres from the site boundary). There are others on the Nuneaton Road to the north-west (400 metres distant); Slowley Green Farm to the east (500 metres away), Over Whitacre House and Saddlers Meadow off the B4114 Nuneaton Road to the north (300 metres away). Additionally there are residential properties to the south (some 500 metres away).