Epping Forest District Council NOTICE of MEETING
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Epping Forest District Council NOTICE OF MEETING Committee : Development Date : Tuesday 13 January 1998 Place : Civic Offices, Time : 7 .30 p .m . High Street, Epping Room : Council Chamber Committee Secretary : M Smith (Ext 4245) Members : Councillors R Heath (Chairman), D Yeo (Vice- Chairman), Mrs M Boatman, J Carr, Mrs J Davis, G Farren, J Gilliham, Ms A Haigh, E Hudspeth, D Kelly, A Larner, L Martin, R Morgan, , Mrs J O'Brien, J Padfield, R Pearce, J Pledge, M Wardle, M Welch, Mrs S Welton, K Wright . f ~~Background papers for .an item or report are those documents 11,relating to the subj'ect matter of the report which disclose any facts or matters on which (in the proper officer's hdecision) the report or an important part of the report is 1'iased and have in his opinion been relied upon to a material xtent in preparing the report . These are listed at the conclusion of each relevant agenda item and do not include any 4published work . Inspection of background papers may be arranged by contacting the officer responsible for the item . BUSINESS INDEX OF ITEMS . PART A - MA~JOR~rITEMS FOR DEBATE 4 . Essex Waste Plan - Second Consultation Draft (see also Appendix 1) Area of "White Land" between Ninefields Estate and former Honey Lane Hospital, Waltham Abbey (see also Appendix 2) 6 . Development Brief - Former Council Depot, Weald Hall Lane, Thornwood 7 . The Essex Design Guide for Residential and Mixed Use Areas 8 . Planning Application EPF/678/96 - Outline Application for Motorway Service Area, Junction 5, M11, Chigwell (see also Appendix 3) 9 . Budget 1998/99 (see also Appendix 4) 1 Civic Ofl-rces, Nigh Street, Epping, Essex. CMl6 4BZ PART B - ROUTINE ITEMS FOR DECISION ` 10 . Review of Housing Association Design Standards 11 . Planning Proceedings - Award of Costs Against the Council - Dorrington Farm, Rye Hill Road, Harlow 12 . Costs Awarded Against the Council 13 . Proposed Millennium Maze (see also Appendix 5) 14 . Management Body of the former Leca Works, Ongar 15 . Former Epping-Ongar Railway 16 . Bansons Lane Redevelopment Proposals, Chipping Ongar 17 . Planning Training for Councillors 18 . Planning Applications - Delegation Agreement 19 . Major Projects/Proposals - Proqress (see also " Appendix 6) 20 . Progress Reports 21 . Representation on outside Organisations PART C - INFORMATION ITEMS / 22 . Information Items PART D - CONSIDERATION IN PRIVATE SESSION Development Committee 13 January 1998 PART A - MINUTES, APOLOGIES, PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND MAJOR POLICY ITEMS FOR DEBATE 1 . MINUTES To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 28 October 1997 (previously circulated) . 2 . APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE 3 . PUBLIC QUESTIONS 3 .1 (Chief Executive) To answer any questions in accordance with Standing Order A51 from members of the public of which notice has been given . 3 .2 Standing Order A51 requires that a maximum of 15 minutes shall be allowed under this item, except if the Chairman exercises his or her discretion to extend the time if a large number of questions need to be dealt with . Development Committee 13 January 1998 MAJOR POLICY ITEMS FOR DEBATE 4 . ESSEX WASTE PLAN - SECOND CONSULTATION DRAFT (Minute 36 - 28 .8 .96) Recommendations : That, subject to the views of the Public Health and Transportation Committees : (1) That strong reservations be expressed to the County Council about the selection of the Airfield site because of (a) loss of industrial land ; (b) proximity to residential areas ; (c) detrimental effect on leisure uses of the Airfield ; (d) traffic implications on the Airfield and in other parts of the District ; (e) visual impact on the edge of the Green Belt ; (2) That it be acknowledged that, if the industrial sites in West Essex are rejected and long distance transport of waste and/or landfill or land raising is to be avoided, alternative sites must be identified ; (3) That the County Council be requested to give more information in the Deposit Draft about the total number of sites needed, the numbers of each type of facility needed, and .the particular suitability of each site ; (4) That the County Council-be requested to provide more details in the Deposit Draft about inert and non-inert waste for the three existing landfill sites in the District . Background 4 .1 (Head of Planning Services) The County Council, as Waste Planning Authority, is responsible for the preparation of the Essex Waste Plan . The first Consultation Draft was published in May 1996 and considered by this Committee on 28 August 1996 . The County Council is seeking views on the second Consultation Draft to enable the preparation of a final Deposit Draft in Spring 1998 . The County Council hopes that this will lead to a public inquiry in the autumn . The consultation timescale has not allowed a report to the Essex Waste Plan Working Group prior to consideration by this Committee and the Public Health and Transportation Committees . 4 .2 The first Consultation Draft did not contain site specific proposals and concentrated instead on the strategic problem of lack of landfill space and the urgent need to develop a different approach to waste management in the future - i .e . (i) reduce the amount of waste created ; (ii) maximise the reuse of waste (e .g . by recycling) ; (iii) use waste to produce energy ; and Development Conmittee 13 January 1998 (iv) dispose in landfill sites only of that waste which cannot be treated or managed in any other way . 4 .3 The second Draft identifies specific sites as opportunities for 'major waste management facilities' and generally updates the first Draft to comply with revised Regional Waste Advice . This has necessitated rewording some policies and the supporting text . Depending on the timing and outcome of the Public Inquiry, the County Council intends that the Waste Local Plan should be .in operation from 1997 to 2010 . 4 .4 The County Council will be consulting parish councils directly affected by these proposals and will be publicising the Consultation Draft through newspapers and libraries . The Plan 4 .5 The second Draft goes into some detail about alternatives to landfill and makes a firm commitment to the development of alternative waste management techniqbes . The processes considered are (i) , biological degradation - anaerobic digestion, composting, mulching and the use of wormeries ; (ii) inert waste recycling ; (iii) waste collection and . reclamation/sorting ; (iv) scrap yards ; (v) energy from waste incineration ; (vi) refuse derived fuel ; (vii) landfill gas ; and (viii) mining of waste . The advantages and disadvantages of these techniques, and the planning issues involved are highlighted . 4 .6 This Council has been grouped with three others (Brentwood, Chelmsford and Harlow) in the site f selection process to ensure that the chosen sites were reasonably distributed throughout the County . Eight sites are identified throughout the County as being potentially suitable for the development of waste management facilities . One of these is within this District - the area allocated in the new Local Plan for business/industry or warehousing on the south side of North Weald Airfield (see Plan attached as Appendix 1) . The only other in West Essex is in the Edinburgh Way Industrial Estate, Harlow . The Draft is not prescriptive about the number of sites required or the waste management processes which would be suitable for each site, contending that such details can only be considered if and when proposals come forward from private operators as part of the normal planning process . At that stage any applications would be subject to environmental assessment and would need to comply with the requirements of the Environment Agency . 4 .7 In selecting the sites, the County Council invited suggestions from district councils, landowners and companies involved in the waste industry . This Council responded in April 1997 stating that, taking into account locational criteria established by the County Council, there were no suitable sites in the District . Development Committee 13 January 1998 Fifty four sites throughout the County were suggested by others but many did not meet the criteria and were rejected after site inspections . Of these 54 sites, five were in this District (Rockhills near Willingale ; Luxborough Lane, Chigwell ; Langston Road, Loughton ;) part of Nazeing Marsh and part of Glen Faba, Roydon) . Four were identified in Chelmsford, two in Harlow and one in Brentwood . 4 .8 The locational criteria are : (a) satisfactory existing access to the main road network ; (b) preference to be given to industrial/urban areas, but rural locations, especially 'brownfield' sites cannot be ruled out ; (c) ability to accommodate (physically and visually) industrial structures ; (d) distribution across the County ; (e) large enough to accommodate a range of facilities (2 .5 ha . regarded as minimum size) ; (f) distance from residential development - the need to minimise noise and other forms of pollution ; (g) not a pre-requisite but reasonable access to the electricity distribution system to cater for energy production would be advantageous . 4 .9 The Draft acknowledges that the Airfield site cannot be 'safeguarded' for waste processing, because of its allocation for other uses in the Local Plan . It also recognises that any development would have to have regard to Civil Aviation Authority constraints and that it would require a high standard of design and landscaping to respect the prominent setting of the site on the edge of the Green Belt . 4 .10 The Draft lists Netherhall, Roydon and Langridge Farm, Nazeing as permitted sites for inert waste only, and the Leca Works at High Ongar as a site which can take non-inert waste . There are no details about the quantities of appropriate waste or about the timescale of these operations . The issues 4 .11 An alternative to landfill must be found for dealing with waste, especially in the west of the County . The Airfield site does raise a number of difficult planning issues but it is not an option simply to say that this proposal is unacceptable .