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Request for EIA Screening Opinion for Clean Planet Energy Casebourne Site, Haverton Hill Road, Billingham Project 6594 Issue A1 Issue date: 25th January 2021 Document number: R6594-IE-0004 ISO 9001 Certificate Number 5021 Contents 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 2 2 Site Context .................................................................................................................................... 3 3 The Development .......................................................................................................................... 4 4 Do the proposals constitute EIA Development? ................................................................... 4 5 Consideration of potential environmental issues ................................................................... 6 5.1 Air Quality ......................................................................................................................... 6 5.2 Land Contamination ........................................................................................................ 6 5.3 Noise .................................................................................................................................. 7 5.4 Ecology ............................................................................................................................... 7 5.5 Flood Risk .......................................................................................................................... 8 5.6 Highways ............................................................................................................................ 9 6 Conclusions ..................................................................................................................................... 9 References .................................................................................................................................................. 10 Appendices ................................................................................................................................................. 11 Appendix I. Plans ................................................................................................................................. 11 Revision History Issue Originated/Updated by Reviewed by (date) Approved by (date) Nature of changes (date) P1 Daniel Hamp For review (22/01/2021) A1 Daniel Hamp Kate Riley Shem Harper For issue (25/01/2021) (25/01/2021) (26/01/2021) Printed Confidential © Stopford Energy & Environment 1 27/01/2021 Project 6594 Document number: R6594-IE-0004 /11 1 Introduction The purpose of this report is to request an EIA screening opinion from the local planning authority (LPA), for a proposed plastics to fuel facility in Stockton-on-Tees. The Town and Country Planning Regulations 2017 govern the process of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in the context of town and country planning in England. These regulations apply the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive 2014, from the European Union (EU) to the planning system in England [ref.1]. Under regulation 6 of The Town and Country Planning Regulations 2017 'A person who is minded to carry out development may request the relevant planning authority to adopt a screening opinion' [ref.2]. The LPA for the proposed development is Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council. This document provides the information specified under regulation 6(2) of the Town and Country Planning Regulations 2017 to enable Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council to provide a screening opinion. Printed Confidential © Stopford Energy & Environment 2 27/01/2021 Project 6594 Document number: R6594-IE-0004 /11 2 Site Context The proposed development is located off Haverton Hill Road, Stockton-on-Tees, TS23 1PY (see Figure 1). The central grid reference for the site is 448170,522156. The proposed site is bounded to the north by Haverton Hill Road (A4106), to the east by industrial units, to the south by a small jetty and the River Tees (designated SSSI and SPA) and to the west by further industrial units. The proposed site area is approximately 5ha. Figure 1: The proposed location of the CPE Casebourne site. Formerly an ICI cement works, the current site is a brownfield site comprising of undeveloped, vacant land. The nearest residence (Haverton Hill Hotel) is approximately 680 m from the site centre, and further residences in Lime Tree Close (950 m from site centre). In line with regulation 6(2)bii of The Town and Country Planning Regulations 2017, the environmental sensitivity of geographical areas has been considered. The site is located adjacent to the River Tees, which is designated under the Teesmouth and Cleveland Coast Special Protection Area (SPA) and Printed Confidential © Stopford Energy & Environment 3 27/01/2021 Project 6594 Document number: R6594-IE-0004 /11 Teesmouth and Cleveland Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Other sensitive areas within a 10 km radius of the site have been reviewed but are unlikely to be affected by the development. The site is located across Flood Zone 2 and 3. 3 The Development Formerly a former ICI cement works, the current site is a brownfield site comprising of undeveloped, vacant land. It is proposed that the site be used for a plastics to fuel facility. The facility will use approximately 60 tonnes per day of non-recyclable plastic feedstock per day. The facility will be compliant with the operational requirements specified in the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) and will be regulated by the local authority in line with the requirements of the Environmental Permitting Regulations (England and Wales), 2016. See Appendix I for the proposed site plan. 4 Do the proposals constitute EIA Development? The facility will be a Small Waste Incineration Plant (SWIP). The capacity of a SWIP is limited to 3 tonnes per hour (72 tonnes per day), however, the planned capacity is lower than this at 60 tonnes per day. Schedule 1 of the Town and Country Planning Regulations defines a Schedule 1 development as 'Waste disposal installations for the incineration or chemical treatment (as defined in Annex I to Directive 2008/98/EC under heading D9) of non hazardous waste with a capacity exceeding 100 tonnes per day') [ref.2]. The SWIP capacity is less than 100 t/d threshold, therefore it does not qualify as Schedule 1 development. The development is categorised as Schedule 2 development under Schedule 2(11)(b): 'Installations for the disposal of waste (unless included in Schedule 1)'. It meets the criteria for this through the fact disposal is by incineration, the installation is to be sited within 100 metres of any controlled waters and the area of the development exceeds 0.5ha. Paragraph 018 of the planning policy guidance for an EIA advises that: Printed Confidential © Stopford Energy & Environment 4 27/01/2021 Project 6594 Document number: R6594-IE-0004 /11 'Only a very small proportion of Schedule 2 development will require an Environmental Impact Assessment. While it is not possible to formulate criteria or thresholds which will provide a universal test of whether or not an assessment is required, it is possible to offer a broad indication of the type or scale of development which is likely to require an assessment. It is also possible to provide an indication of the sort of development for which an assessment is unlikely to be necessary. To aid local planning authorities to determine whether a project is likely to have significant environmental effects, a set of indicative thresholds and criteria have been produced' [ref.1]. The set of indicative criteria and thresholds for Schedule 2 developments are provided in paragraphs 057 and 058 of the planning policy guide (see Table 1). Table 1: Extract from Indicative screening thresholds (Paragraph 058) [ref.1]. Schedule 2 criteria and Indicative criteria and Development Type Key issues to consider thresholds threshold Installations (including landfill sites) for the deposit, recovery and/or disposal of household industrial and/or commercial wastes where new (i) The disposal is by capacity is created to incineration; or hold more than 50,000 Scale of the (ii) the area of the (b) Installations for the tonnes per year, or to development and the development exceeds disposal of waste hold waste on a site of nature of the potential 0.5 hectare; or (unless included in 10 hectares or more. impact in terms of (iii) the installation is Schedule 1); Sites taking smaller discharges, emissions to be sited within 100 quantities of these or odour. metres of any wastes, sites seeking controlled waters. only to accept inert wastes (demolition rubble etc.) or Civic Amenity sites, are unlikely to require Environmental Impact Assessment. It is acknowledged that each of the Schedule 2 criteria from column 2 are met. However, the planned capacity for the unit is 60 tonnes per day (21,900 tonnes per year), which is significantly below the indicative threshold of 50,000 tonnes per year in column 3. The proposed site is also approximately 5 ha, less than the 10 ha threshold. In addition, the site will only accept inert plastic waste. Printed Confidential © Stopford Energy & Environment 5 27/01/2021 Project 6594 Document number: R6594-IE-0004 /11 Since the installation does not exceed the indicative criteria and thresholds in Table 1, and based on the lack of significant environmental effects (set out in the following section), it is concluded