Public Agenda Item No. 2.1 DERBYSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL REGULATORY – PLANNING COMMITTEE 17 March 2017 Report of the Strategic Director – Economy, Transport and Communities 1 PROPOSED SURFACE COAL MINING SCHEME WITH RESTORATION TO AGRICULTURE AND NATURE CONSERVATION BENEFITS AT HILLTOP FARM, DERBY ROAD, CLAY CROSS APPLICANT: PROVECTUS REMEDIATION LIMITED CODE NO: CM4/1215/125 4.2482.6 Introductory Summary This is an application for the extraction of coal using surface mining methods on land at Hilltop Farm, Clay Cross. The proposal is to extract 175,000 tonnes of coal from the site. The site would be restored for agricultural use and nature conservation. The entire scheme would take approximately 3½ years. Access to the site would be from the A61 Derby Road. HGV movements associated with the development would be a maximum of 40 (20 in/20 out) per day during periods of coaling. The two public rights of way (PROW) that cross the site would temporarily be affected. The development would involve the removal of some of the sites existing hedgerows and trees. The application is accompanied by an Environmental Statement (ES). A significant issue for this proposal is the proximity of the site to residential properties, the separation distance between the site and some properties is very limited for this type of development. The application site is a wedge of open countryside that helps to separate Clay Cross from Old Tupton and is valued locally. The proposal would result in unacceptable adverse landscape and visual impacts during the operational phase of the development. There would also be unacceptable short term noise impacts during temporary site operations. Due to the limited separation distance between the site and properties, dust is also likely to be an issue. The cumulative impacts of the development, particularly the combined effects of landscape and visual impacts, noise and dust are considered to be so significant in combination as to render the proposed development unacceptable. There are also concerns about the impact of the proposal on the regeneration aspirations for Clay Cross; the proposal would have a net negative socio-economic effect. The application describes the proposed restoration works as providing an opportunity to improve the quality of the land by following a soil restoration strategy and the implementation of a comprehensive land drainage scheme. H:\H9\RP472.doc 1 17 March 2017 Public Other benefits of the development are described in the application as including direct employment opportunities, local and regional economic benefits, meeting the need for coal supply, flood alleviation, provision for funding of a Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA) and related toddlers’ park, improvement to allotment fencing, ecological and landscape enhancements, and the provision of a significant new PROW. The site is already in productive agricultural use and there are not any substantive restoration benefits in terms of agricultural land quality. There would be some landscape and visual and ecological benefits but these are considered to be very minor and could be delivered by other means. There would be some visual benefit through the proposed planting to screen views of the Derby Road Industrial Estate and potentially some flood alleviation benefit. The proposal would also be of some economic benefit; however, this is not considered to be significant when balanced against the proposals potential for net negative socio-economic effect. The applicant’s proposed off-site community recreational benefits do not appear to have any sufficient connection with the proposed development to be relevant and are not a material consideration for this proposal. The main benefit of the proposal would be the delivery of coal from the site which would be of some national benefit but it is considered to be very modest. Overall, the benefits of the proposal when set against the scale of adverse environmental, economic and social impacts would not outweigh the impacts to justify the grant of planning permission. The proposal would not represent sustainable development and would not accord with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) or with policies of the Derby and Derbyshire Minerals Local Plan (DDMLP) and the North East Derbyshire Local Plan (NEDLP). Whilst it is considered that the proposal is suitable for refusal, the applicant has made an appeal submission to the Secretary of State against non-determination of the application for the proposal. (1) Purpose of Report To enable the Committee, on behalf of the County Council as Mineral Planning Authority (MPA), to express a view concerning the application, which may be referred to in submissions for the appeal application which the applicant has made under Section 78 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 against non-determination of the application. (2) Information and Analysis The Site and Surroundings The proposed opencast extraction site at Hilltop Farm covers an area of 28.6 hectares (ha) and is currently in agricultural use. The site is situated immediately north-west of Clay Cross between the settlements of Holmgate and Woodthorpe to the west and the A61 main road to the east. The site runs north–south between the village of Old Tupton to the north and Clay Cross to H:\H9\RP472.doc 2 17 March 2017 Public the south and is approximately 1.5 kilometres (km) long. The site is bounded by residential areas to the north, south, and west, the A61 (Derby Road) to the east, and industrial and commercial developments to the south-east. Some of the closest residential properties to the site are located on Woodland Way to the west and Peters Avenue to the south approximately 40 metres (m) from the site and on the A61 Derby Road approximately 30m from the site; there is also a dwelling at Hilltop Farm on Derby Hill immediately adjacent to the site. Tupton Hall School is located approximately 450m to the north-east. The land runs along a moderate ridgeline sloping gently south to north. The highest part of the site (145 above ordnance Data (AOD)) is in the central area in the vicinity of Hilltop Farm, the site is on higher ground relative to the surrounding residential areas. The site is currently subdivided in field parcels by hedgerows with a number of mature trees and is used as both arable and grazing land. The site is located within Flood Zone 1 (i.e. Lying outside of the floodplain) and is underlain by a Secondary Aquifer (The Coal Measures Strata) but is not located within a Source Protection Zone. There is a minor watercourse (referred to as Watercourse 1 in the application) that passes through the northern section of the site and a second watercourse (Watercourse 2) just outside to the south-west of the site. Two public rights of way (PROW) (Clay Cross footpaths 23 and 26) cross the site both in an approximate west to east direction. A section of the former Stretton and Ashover light railway passes through the site in a north-easterly direction from Holmgate Road in the south to the buttress of the former Pirelli Bridge north of Hilltop Farm on the A61. There are overhead electricity lines across the southern part of the site, there are also two underground low voltage lines and two underground gas mains present within the site. Two large water mains run from north to south across the entire site and there is a public sewer located adjacent to the western boundary. There are no international or national ecological designations within the site. Internationally designated sites (Natura 2000 sites) within 10km of the site include the Peak District Moors Special Protection Area (SPA) and the South Pennine Moors Special Area of Conservation (SAC). Ogston Reservoir Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Fall Hill Quarry SSSI are located approximately 2.8km and 3km to the south-west of the site. The North Wingfield Nature Reserve and the Avenue Nature Reserve are located 1.3km and 1.6km to the east of the site. There is a Local Wildlife Site (LWS) (Far Tupton Wood) located to the west approximately 100m from the site, Cowlishaw Wood and Carr Plantation LWSs are located 500m and 800m to the north-west, there is a potential Local Wildlife Site (pLWS) Mulberry Woods and Berresford Moor Plantation 250m to the north-west. H:\H9\RP472.doc 3 17 March 2017 Public There are no designated heritage assets within the site. The route of the Ryknield Street, a Roman road, loosely follows the route of the A61 to the east of the site; sections of the Ryknield Street are a Scheduled Monument the closest being located approximately 150m to the north-east. There are two grade II listed buildings located to the north-east, Pear Tree House approximately 50m and Egstow Hall approximately 150m from the site. The grade I listed Church of St Lawrence is located approximately 1.5km to the east. The northern extent of the Clay Cross Conservation Area is located approximately 250m to the south of the site. The route of the former Stretton and Ashover light railway, runs through the site along part of the western boundary before turning north-east through the centre of the site to meet the buttress of the former Pirelli bridge north of Hilltop Farm. There are four main coal seams within the application site, the Tupton Coal, Three quarters Coal, Yard and Cannel (Blackshale). The application site has been subject to historic deep mining and opencast operations during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Deep mining to work the Cannel coal seam is known to have taken place at the southern end of the site and has resulted in the presence of seven remnant mineshafts in the area, although their exact location is currently unknown.