Report to Planning and Licensing Committee REPORT OF
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Report to Planning and Licensing Committee 10 December 2013 Agenda Item: REPORT OF CORPORATE DIRECTOR POLICY, PLA NNING AND CORPORATE SERVICES BROXTOWE DISTRICT REF. NO.: 5/13/00590/CCM PROPOSAL: EXTRACTION OF COAL AND FIRECLAY BY SURFACE MINING METHODS WITH RESTORATION TO AGRICULTURE, WOODLAND, NATURE CONSERVATION AND PUBLIC AMENITY LOCATION: LAND OFF COSSALL ROAD BETWEEN THE VILLAGES OF COSSALL AND TROWELL, REFERRED TO AS THE SHORTWOOD SITE APPLICANT: UK COAL SURFACE MINES LIMITED Purpose of Report 1. To consider a planning application for the extraction of an estimated 1.275 million tonnes of coal and 250,000 tonnes of fireclay by opencast extraction methods from land know as ‘Shortwood’ between Cossall and Trowell, and the restoration of the site to agriculture, woodland, nature conservation and public amenity. The key issues relate to landscape and visual impact, the impact on the setting of Cossall Conservation Area, HGV traffic, noise, dust, health impacts, the impact on the Green Belt and countryside, the impacts on rights of way, and the restoration of the site including its deliverability. 2. A small section of the application site, extending to approximately five hectares, is within Cossall Mature Landscape Area (MLA) and MLAs are identified in the adopted Nottinghamshire Minerals Local Plan (MLP) as opencast coal constraint areas and are protected from opencast coal extraction in Policy M12.7 of the MLP. Accordingly the application has been treated as a ‘departure’ from the Development Plan. The recommendation is to grant planning permission subject to conditions and a legal agreement. Background to this application 3. Members of Planning and Licensing Committee will be aware that an almost identical planning application to the one under consideration in this report was submitted to the County Council in February 2012. However, in mid-2013, it became apparent that there was a discrepancy regarding the ownership certificates that had been submitted with the application which had not 1 previously been identified, largely due to the complicated structure of the applicant company. The County Council sought counsel advice regarding the correct course of action to take and was advised that the application should be returned as invalid, as the matter could not simply be rectified through the resubmission of the correct certificates in support of that application. 4. Following the application’s return, the applicant resubmitted an almost identical application in September with the only changes being to the ownership certificates and two plans which were amended to reflect changes to land ownership since the previous application was submitted. In all other respects, the new application remained as previously submitted and included additional information which had been submitted during the course of the previous application’s consideration. Consultees and the public alike were made aware of the situation when notified or consulted on the new application. Consultees were invited to confirm to the County Council that their previous response on the application remained valid, whilst members of the public who had made representations to the first application had their representation automatically transferred to the new application, but were also informed that they could make additional representations within the statutory consultation period. The Site and Surroundings 5. The application site covers an area of 130.75 hectares and is predominately located on the north western side of the M1 motorway close to the Trowell Motorway Service Area (see plan 1). A triangular section of the site, extending to approximately six hectares, is linked by an underpass to the south east of the motorway immediately north of the A609 and is abutted by residential properties. Much of the western and part of the northern boundary of the site abuts Cossall Road which links the villages of Cossall and Trowell (see Plan 2), whilst the northern section of the western boundary of the site is also close to a section of the Nottingham Canal, with the Robbinetts Arm of the canal running close to the northern boundary of the site (see Plan 2). These sections of canal form part of the Nottingham Canal (Awsworth and Cossall) Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC), designated as a 'species-rich disused canal of botanical and zoological importance' (see Plan 3). The Canal Bank Marsh, Cossall SINC ('an interesting marshy grassland with scattered scrub') and Nottingham Canal Grassland, Cossall SINC ('a rank grassland with species-rich areas') are adjacent to the canal. 6. Other watercourses in the area include an unnamed drainage ditch which carries surface water drainage along the line of the historic Cossall/Trowell parish boundary on the western side of the site before eventually outfalling into the Nottingham Canal further north west. The parish boundary only remains visible in two short sections on the site: the aforementioned section on the western side of the site and another section close to a bridleway running along the eastern boundary of the site. Any physical remains of the parish boundary within the application site were removed during previous opencast mining operations on the site. Trowell Stream runs roughly east to west to the south of the motorway before passing under the motorway and then heading south and discharging into the River Erewash (see Plan 2). 2 7. The canal towpaths are both footpaths and form part of a wide network of footpaths and bridleways in the area (see Plan 4). Much of the north eastern boundary of the site abuts Cossall Bridleway Number 16 (a short section of which is designated as Shortwood SINC and noted for its ‘remnant ancient woodland flora along a trackside’ (see Plan 3)). This bridleway then becomes Trowell Bridleway Number 14 (a section of which crosses the site) and then Strelley Bridleway Number 14 which runs adjacent to and crosses the motorway before continuing as Trowell Bridleway Number 14 to the south of the motorway (see Plan 4). Adjacent to the north east corner of the site are Oldmoor Wood and Oldmoor Pond (see Plan 2) which are also designated as SINCs ('a broad- leaved woodland with a notable ground flora and zoological interest’ and ‘a fishing pool with well-established vegetation and valuable wooded surrounds' respectively). 8. The site and surrounding area fall within the Babbington Rolling Farmlands Draft Policy Zone in the Nottinghamshire Coalfield Regional Character Area. The site also falls within a section of the Nottingham Green Belt which separates Greater Nottingham to the east from Ilkeston to the west. Cossall Mature Landscape Area (MLA) adjoins much of the north eastern boundary of the site and extends to the north and around the village of Cossall (see Plan 2). A small part of the MLA, extending to around 3.3 hectares, is within the application area close to Cossall Bridleway Number 16/Trowell Bridleway Number 14/Strelley Bridleway Number 14, with even smaller areas of around 0.5 hectares in the north eastern corner of the site to the immediate south of Oldmoor Pond and Oldmoor Wood. The application site also falls within the Greenwood Community Forest which covers a total area of 417 square kilometres on the western side of the county, stretching from Mansfield in the north to Attenborough in the south, and from Eastwood in the west to Farnsfield in the east. 9. The village of Cossall, which, along with surrounding pasture land is designated a Conservation Area (see Plan 3) is located to the north of the site with properties on Mill Lane such as Highlands, The White House, The Coppice, and Woodlands, along with Keeper’s Cottage to the south of Robinettes Lane, being approximately 400 metres from the northern boundary of the site. The Grade II* listed village church, St Catherine’s, located towards the centre of the village, is approximately 550 metres from the site boundary, along with other listed buildings including Church Cottage (Grade II listed) which has links to D H Lawrence, the Willoughby Almshouses, which along with the adjoining boundary wall is Grade II* listed, and Glebe Farm Cottage (Grade II listed). 10. Adjacent to Keeper’s Cottage is the Robbinetts Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), approximately 150 metres to the north of the site at its closest point, which is also designated as a SINC and is noted for its grassland habitats (see Plan 3). To the immediate south of this is the Brickyard Plantation SINC, described as ‘a diverse woodland over a variously wet and dry substrate’. 11. The village of Trowell is located to the south of the site (see Plan 5) with properties on the A609 Nottingham Road to the immediate east of the motorway; on Cossall Road including Uplands Farm, Field House Farm and Field House Bungalow; and Shortwood Farm on Waterloo Lane to the north east of the motorway services, abutting the site boundary. Further properties on 3 Nottingham Road, Cossall Road and Ellesmere Drive off Cossall Road are also close to the site boundary. The Festival Inn on the A609 is approximately 600 metres from the site with the Grade II* Church of St Helen on the opposite side of the road and the Grade II listed Rectory Farmhouse, barns, stables and pigsty close by. A further section of the Nottingham Canal also runs through the village and part of it is designated as the Nottingham Canal (Trowell to Balloon Wood) SINC (‘a valuable length of disused canal, and associated woodland, of botanical and zoological interest') with an adjacent woodland designated as the Grange Wood, Trowell SINC ('a deciduous woodland with a well-developed structure and a noteworthy ground flora'), and a small area of land adjacent to the motorway designated as the Motorway Grassland, Trowell SINC ('a species- rich stepped grassland with scrub').