NCC14 9-9-09 Original Committee Report Land at Former Rufford
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report Nottinghamshire County Council meeting PLANNING AND LICENSING COMMITTEE th date 9 JANUARY 2009 agenda item number 4 Corporate Director (Communities) NEWARK AND SHERWOOD DISTRICT COUNCIL REF.NO. 3/07/01793/CMW CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION OF AN ENERGY RECOVERY FACILITY THROUGH THE INCINERATION OF WASTE TOGETHER WITH ANCILARY INFRASTRUCTURE INCLUDING A WASTE BULKING/TRANSFER STATION, ADMINISTRATION/VISITOR CENTRE, LANDSCAPING AND CREATION OF NEW INTERNAL HAUL ROAD. LAND AT FORMER RUFFORD COLLIERY, RUFFORD. APPLICANT: VEOLIA ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES NOTTINGHAMSHIRE LIMITED. Purpose of Report To consider a planning application for the construction and operation of an Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) with ancillary infrastructure including a waste bulking/transfer station, administration/visitor centre, landscaping and creation of a new internal haul road on land at the former Rufford Colliery, Rufford. The key issues relate to compliance with waste management policy, in particular Planning Policy Statement 10: Planning and Sustainable Waste Management, the selection of the former Rufford Colliery site for the development and how it satisfies local planning policies, and an assessment of the potential environmental impacts of the development, with particular reference to climate change, landscape, and ecology. The site lies within an area designated as countryside. Accordingly the application has been treated as a ‘departure’ from the Development Plan. The recommendation is to grant conditional planning permission subject to the applicant entering into a Section 106 legal agreement and referral to the Government Office for the East Midlands. 1 1. Executive Summary 1.1 This planning application raises a number of complex policy, technical and environmental considerations, and in order to assist Members’ understanding of all the issues, the report has been broken down into a number of discrete sections. 1.2 Section 2 deals with the background to the application, including a description of the site and its location. The site forms part of the pit- head of the former Rufford Colliery, approximately one kilometre north of Rainworth. The site is intermittently used for coal stocking by virtue of a planning permission granted in 1996 and which expires in 2011. The site is accessed from the A617 Rainworth By-Pass, linking to the Mansfield – Ashfield Regeneration Route. A number of important sites with nature conservation interest lie close to the application site. 1.3 The description of the development is set out in Section 3. The application is for a Energy Recovery Facility through the incineration of waste. The plant has been designed to have an annual throughput of some 180,000 tonnes of waste, brought to the site directly by either refuse collection vehicles, or by larger vehicles carrying bulked waste from one of a number of waste transfer stations. The larger part of the building contains two chimneys, rising to a height of 75 metres above ground level. 1.4 Waste brought to the site as part of the Council’s Waste PFI Contract – that dealing with municipal solid waste and generally collected by the District Councils in the locality – would be burned in two furnaces. The heat produced would be used to generate up to 15mW of electricity, of which 13mW would be released to the national grid, the remainder being used to power the plant. Potentially heat could be used to supply adjacent premises, although at this stage this is a potential supply and not a realistic practical proposition. 1.5 The main residues from the process would be Incinerator Bottom Ash and Flue gas treatment residues, both of which would be taken off site for processing and usage elsewhere. The flue gases would be released to the air through a series of filters prior to emission via the two chimneys. 1.6 Sections 4-6 deal with publicity, consultations and the collection of data necessary to deal with the issues raised. The application is one that is supported by an Environmental Impact Assessment. The regulations governing this require that any additional information which arises during the consultation process should be made known to all consultees. This has resulted in a second major tranche of consultation. 1.7 The main ‘technical’ consultees are the Environment Agency, Natural England, Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, Health Protection Agency, 2 and OPUN (on design advice). A wide range of the Council’s own staff have made comments. 1.8 Regional bodies and other local authorities have been consulted. Newark and Sherwood District Council, in whose area the application lies, has objected from a planning perspective principally on the grounds of being contrary to policy. Mansfield District Council have raised no objections in principle. Rainworth Parish Council have objected. 1.9 The application has been advertised in accordance with the Council’s adopted Statement of Community Involvement, and in line with statutory requirements. A total of 105 letters of objection have been received, of which 34 are pro-forma style letters. Two of the letters are from the Sherwood House Nursing Home, incorporating a petition signed by 63 of the residents. One letter has been received in support. 1.10 The predominant opposition is from a local action group, People Against Incineration (PAIN) which has made detailed objections at both the initial and later consultation stages. The substance of their objection is set out in some detail in the report, but principally relates to the need for the proposal, the choice of incineration to deal with the Council’s Municipal Waste, the impact of the proposal on surrounding communities and local habitats, health issues, traffic, potential pollution and impact on climate change. 1.11 Sections 7 – 13 set out the Council’s observations on the issues raised through the consultation process. Following a brief introductory section (section 7), the next section (section 8) examines the European, National and Regional policy context, particularly the National Waste Strategy which reinforces the waste hierarchy whereby disposal to landfill is considered the least favoured waste treatment option and should be replaced by more sustainable solutions such as energy recovery. The government is committed to reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill in order that it can comply with the European Landfill Directive. Historically within Nottinghamshire municipal waste has been disposed to landfill (other than that which goes to the Eastcroft incinerator in Nottingham). 1.12 Section 9 deals with the provision of waste management facilities within the county, with some explanation of the Waste PFI contract, and how this proposal forms a crucial component of that contract, 1.13 The following section, section 10, examines the options for residual waste management – that fraction of the waste stream that remains after waste reduction and a variety of recycling initiatives. The section looks at assumptions made about waste growth, drawing on information from national and regional strategies, the Waste PFI contract, and the emerging Waste Development Framework. A 3 comparative assessment of other waste management options is considered. 1.14 Section 11 sets out the waste planning policy context. As well as national, regional, county and local planning policies, any decision made on the application will also be guided by the County’s waste planning policy. It is recognised that the current Waste Local Plan, although still the statutory waste planning policy document, is becoming out of date and has yet to be replaced by the new style Waste Development Framework, with revised issues and options for a new waste core strategy not likely to emerge until later this year. 1.15 Planning Policy Statement 10 (PPS10) on Planning and Sustainable Waste Management features high in the consideration of the application, and the objectives which PPS10 sets out are tested on an individual basis. 1.16 Section 12 deals with the suitability of Rufford Colliery for the development of an Energy Recovery Facility, noting that the site is not allocated for waste development in the Waste Local Plan and is on land designated as countryside within the Newark and Sherwood Local Plan. For this reason the application is being treated as a departure from the Development Plan. 1.17 However, employment development at former Colliery sites is considered to be an allowable exception to the Local Plan. It is known that the land owners, UK Coal, are promoting a large part of the remainder of the pit head site for business use, and have already submitted a scoping opinion in advance of an anticipated planning application. 1.18 The development of this site also complies with aspirations set out in Regional and sub-regional documents. 1.19 Section 13 deals with the assessment of the potential environmental impacts. Of particular relevance are potential impacts on sustainability and climate change, pollution and health issues, the design of the plant, transport and traffic issues, landscape and visual assessment, ecology, hydrology and flood risk, hydrogeology, ground contamination and ground stability, noise and vibration, odour, treatment of ash and other residues, and archaeology. 1.20 Section 14 looks at other implications, including Human Rights Act issues. 1.21 Section 15 draws together all the information considered into a conclusion. The report highlights the importance of this proposal as a means of managing Nottinghamshire’s waste. It notes that the Waste Local Plan, although a ‘saved’ document by the Secretary of State, is not up to date, and in those circumstances, PPS10 carries significant weight. 4 1.22 The National Waste Strategy seeks to move the management of waste further up the waste hierarchy, which this proposal would achieve. Regional policies point to this site as being in a suitable location for such a development. It is accepted that the site is situated within land designated as countryside, and this fact is balanced against other planning policies which support development at the former Rufford Colliery.