To Extract Sand and Gravel from Land to The
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Agenda Item 5.2 Regulatory and Other Committee Open Report on behalf of Richard Wills Executive Director for Environment & Economy Report to: Planning and Regulation Committee Date: 13 April 2015 Subject: County Matter Application – N23/27/64/0385/14 Summary: Planning permission is sought by Lafarge Tarmac (agent: Heaton Planning) to extract sand and gravel from land to the west of Whisby Quarry (adjacent to Swinderby Road and Beehive Lane); to utilise the existing quarry infrastructure, plant site and access onto Eagle Road to facilitate the development; and to restore the site to a mixture of water bodies, grassland, woodland and agriculture at land within and adjacent to Whisby Quarry in the parishes of Eagle and Swinethorpe, Doddington and Whisby and Thorpe on the Hill. The proposed development would constitute an extension to the existing Whisby Quarry with the restoration scheme being an extension of the approved restoration for the Quarry. The proposed development has been the subject of an Environmental Impact Assessment under the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2011. The key issues to be considered in this case are the principle of extracting sand and gravel from this site, flood risk and drainage, highways and rail infrastructure impacts, the implications of the loss of a Public Right of Way, impacts on the open countryside, landscape and agricultural land, impacts on nature conservation, impacts in relation to noise and dust and the impacts of the development on the historic landscape, with specific reference to the setting of nearby Listed Buildings. It is concluded that the principle of the extraction of sand and gravel is acceptable and in line with the approach of providing an adequate supply of minerals. In relation to flood risk and drainage, it has been demonstrated that the development would not have detrimental impacts, subject to relevant measures being secured through an appropriate condition and implemented. The key consideration in relation to highways is ensuring that all HGVs arriving and leaving the site follow a prescribed route to avoid local villages and this can be secured through a s.106 legal agreement. Whilst the permanent loss of a Public Right of Way is undesirable, it is considered that an appropriate package of measures to compensate for this loss, through the creation of a new network of public rights of way and permissive paths, can be put in place at the restoration phase of the development such that this loss is outweighed. It is acknowledged that the development would result in the loss of a proportion of the best and most versatile agricultural land and that during the minerals operation phases of the development there would be varying degrees of landscape and visual impacts, however, the timeframe for the development, phased approach and proposed restoration would Page 107 minimise these impacts, particularly in the longer term and the loss of the agricultural land is considered to be justified in this case. The site has little nature conservation value and whilst certain mitigation measures are proposed to be put in place, it is considered that the restoration scheme can offer biodiversity enhancements. In relation to noise and dust, measures are proposed, or are recommended to be secured through planning conditions, to ensure that any impacts are minimised and that there would not be harmful impacts on the amenities of surrounding dwellings and landusers. Whilst there are a number of Listed Buildings and a Scheduled Monument within the vicinity of the application site, it is not considered that the settings of these heritage assets would be harmed by the proposed development. Overall, it is therefore considered that the proposed development is acceptable. Recommendation: Following consideration of the relevant development plan policies and the comments received through consultation and publicity it is recommended that planning permission be granted subject to the applicant entering into a s.106 legal agreement. Background 1. Whisby Quarry is a longstanding sand and gravel quarry which has been extended considerably over time. The most recent planning permission relating to this site was granted in April 2007 to extract sand and gravel as an extension to the existing workings at Whisby Quarry with progressive restoration to agriculture and water based nature conservation (reference N/23/27/64/0982/01). This was essentially for Phases 4 and 5 of the development. Prior to this, in July 1998 planning permission had been granted to extract sand and gravel as an extension to Whisby Quarry with restoration in part to agriculture (utilising imported fill material), woodland, waster-based recreational use and nature conservation (reference N23/27/64/0828/96) and to construct a new vehicular access road to Whisby Quarry and establish a civic amenity compound (reference N23/27/0825/96). Both of these planning permissions were subject to a single s.106 legal agreement which included a requirement to “approach and leave Whisby Quarry only over the length of Eagle Road and Whisby Road and the A46 Lincoln Relief Road”. This route was shown on a plan which forms part of the legal agreement. The latter planning permission allowed for a new access to the site which is still in use. The routing agreement remains in place today to ensure that vehicles associated with the minerals operations go directly to and from the A46 via Eagle Road and Whisby Road and do not pass through the nearby villages. The Application 2. Planning permission is sought by Lafarge Tarmac to extract sand and gravel from land to the west of Whisby Quarry (adjacent to Swinderby Road and Beehive Lane); to utilise the existing quarry infrastructure, plant site and Page 108 access onto Eagle Road to facilitate the development; and to restore the site to a mixture of water bodies, grassland, woodland and agriculture at land within and adjacent to Whisby Quarry in the parishes of Eagle and Swinethorpe, Doddington and Whisby and Thorpe on the Hill. 3. The proposed extension would release an additional 2.2 million tonnes of sand and gravel within an area of 34.1 hectares lying to the south west of the existing Whisby Quarry plant site. On the basis of current extraction rate, the proposals would extend the life of the quarry by approximately 7.3 years, providing reserves until 2028. It is intended to transport the extracted sand and gravel using the existing field conveyor route to the plant site for processing and stockpiling. It would then be distributed off site either as processed aggregate or ready mixed concrete. The applicant has stated that in order to achieve a holistic approach to restoration, the current application includes an area which already has planning permission for sand and gravel extraction, that is, permitted Phase 5. It is intended to restore the site as part of a comprehensive scheme, linking to existing approved schemes. The overall red line of the application site extends to approximately 105.5 hectares and this includes the proposed extension area together with the existing permitted operations, including the haul road, processing plant, silt ponds, ancillary infrastructure and current extraction from Phase 5. 4. The Supporting Statement submitted with this application states that the remaining consented reserves at Whisby Quarry as at 31 December 2013 were two million tonnes, providing approximately 6.6 years worth of reserves at an average extraction rate of 300,000 tonnes per annum. Page 109 5. The proposed extension is identified as Phase 6 of the overall quarry development and is proposed to be worked in four sub-phases, A to D, working from the north west to the south east of the extension site. Two additional sub-phases of Phase 5 are also included within the proposed development seeking planning permission through this application, that is sub-phases 5F and 5H, which lie to the north east of Phase 6. The existing field conveyor is proposed to remain in the central/northern area of the site (between phases 5 and 6) whilst the extraction takes place within Phase 5 and then be moved to a central/southern location, again between Phases 5 and 6 for the duration of working Phase 6. View from south west boundary of Sub-Phase 5C looking towards Phase 6 Page 110 6. Sub-phases 5A and 5B have already been worked out and restoration is ongoing in these areas. At present sub-phase 5C is being worked. It is then proposed to move into sub-phase 5D , which is the north western most part of Phase 5, and then back in a south easterly direction to work sub-phases 5E to 5I. Once mineral extraction is completed in Phase 5 it is proposed to commence extraction in sub-phase 6A. It is proposed that by the start of sub-phase 6A the majority of the sub-phase 5 area would be restored slopes. A topsoil mound is proposed to be located towards the central/ southern area of the application site and further east, adjacent to the topsoil mound, an overburden mound of approximately 32,000 square metres is proposed. In addition to this, a topsoil mound and overburden mound is proposed to be located towards the south western corner of the extension area to screen the closest residential receptors from the Phase 6 operations. The overburden/screening mound is proposed to move progressively east to track the sub-phase 6 operations and working face. This sub-phase is proposed to be progressively restored. 7. It is then proposed to work sub-phase 6B, at which point it is stated that the entire of the Phase 5 area would have been restored, predominantly to waterbodies and sub-phase 6A would be restored slopes.