27 June 2014 14/0208/Amcpp, Revision of Traffic
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EAST AYRSHIRE COUNCIL PLANNING COMMITTEE: 27 JUNE 2014 14/0208/AMCPP, REVISION OF TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT PLAN CONDITION 25 OF CONSENT 09/0131/EB RELATING TO SOUTH WEST SCOTLAND INTERCONNECTOR , DALMELLINGTON BY: SCOTTISH POWER ENERGY NETWORKS Report by Head of Planning and Economic Development Click for Application Details: http://eplanning.east- ayrshire.gov.uk/online/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=N1X2AG GF02400 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SHEET 1. DEVELOPMENT DESCRIPTION 1.1 The proposals are a revision of the previous Traffic Management Plan approved in January 2013.The Traffic Management Plan requires to be revised due to the inability of Scottish Power’s Transmissions (SPT) to secure a source for the quantities of stone which had been anticipated would be provided by the Scottish Coal development at Benbain remainder open cast coal proposals within Chalmerston opencast coal site. However due to the demise of Scottish Coal this anticipated source of stone is no longer available and hence an alternative source of stone was required which has resulted in a revised Traffic Management Plan for Phase 1of the South West Scotland Interconnector Project being required. 1.2 The applicant indicates that 210,000 tonnes of rock is required for the Phase one section of the SWS Interconnector to provide temporary roads along the line of the pylons and material for the formation of the pylon foundations. The proposed works on the interconnector line are divided into two sections north and south. 1.3 The northern section requires 102,000 tonnes of stone , 63,000tonnes of which will be provided from Tappet Hill in House of Water while the remaining 39,000 tonnes will be brought in via road from Tincornhill at Sorn. 1.4 The Southern section of the site requires 108,000 tonnes of stone the first 20,000 tonnes being provided by Tincornhill , until the recently approved Calwfin quarry becomes operational thereafter it would provide the remaining 88,000 tonnes of rock. 1.5 Traffic Management Plan incorporates the delivery of up to 120,000tonnes of armour rock, which is not available from Clawfin quarry, from Tincornhill quarry in Sorn to supply the southern end of the site for the substation building and associated works. 1.6 The developer has indicated a willingness to enter into a legal agreement to make a contribution per tonnes of material transported on the road for road improvements in the area. This matter will be dealt with prior to the issue of the planning permission by Ayrshire Roads Alliance. 1.7 These proposals do not include the traffic movements of abnormal loads through Dalmellington which will be the subject of a further revision of the Traffic Management Plan due to ongoing discussions between SPT and various parties. 2. RECOMMENDATION 2.1 It is recommended that the application for the revised traffic management plan be approved subject to condition and that the decision notice be withheld until the conclusion of an appropriate legal agreement. 3. CONCLUSIONS 3.1 Sections 25 and 37 (2) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 requires that planning applications be determined in accordance with the Development Plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. 3.2 It is considered that the proposals accord with the requirement of the East Ayrshire Local Plan and therefore should be approved unless material considerations indicate otherwise. As indicated in the report there are material considerations relative to this proposal and these are supportive of the application. CONTRARY DECISION NOTE Should the Committee agree that the application be refused contrary to the recommendation of the Head of Planning and Economic Development, the application would not require to be referred to the Council as this would not constitute a significant breach of policy. Alan Neish Head of Planning and Economic Development Note: This document combines key sections of the associated report for quick reference and should not in itself be considered as having been the basis for recommendation preparation or decision making by the Planning Authority. EAST AYRSHIRE COUNCIL PLANNING COMMITTEE: 27 JUNE 2014 AT: 14/0208/AMCPP, REVISION OF TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT PLAN CONDITION 25 OF CONSENT 09/0131/EB RELATING TO SOUTH WEST SCOTLAND INTERCONNECTOR , DALMELLINGTON BY: SCOTTISH POWER ENERGY NETWORKS Report by Head of Planning and Economic Development 1. PURPOSE OF REPORT 1.1 The purpose of this report is to present for determination an application to discharge a variation to condition 24 of a Section 37 consent under the Electricity Act 1989 (ref 09/0131/EB). 1.2 The Section 37 consent granted by Scottish Ministers on 19th December 2013 allows for the extension of the sub-station at Coylton, install a new sub-station at Meikle Hull and install a new 400KV overhead electricity transmission line between Coylton sub-station and the Meikle Hull sub-station. 2. APPLICATION DETAILS 2.1 Site Description: This application primarily identifies the traffic movements of related to the provision of crushed stone to the South West Scotland Interconnectors project which runs from Coylton to Dalmellington and therefore while the application site is the line of the Interconnector project the impact of the traffic movements on the public highway relates to the routes to the site from the Clawfin Quarry at Dalmellington and Tincornhill Quarry Sorn. 2.2 Proposed Development/background: The proposals are a revision of the previous Traffic Management Plan approved in January 2013.The Traffic Management Plan requires to be revised due to the inability of Scottish Power’s Transmissions (SPT) to secure a source for the quantities of stone which had been anticipated would be provide by the Scottish Coal development at Benbain remainder open cast coal proposals within Chalmerston opencast coal site. However due to the demise of Scottish Coal this anticipated source of stone is no longer available and hence an alternative source of stone was required which has resulted in a revised Traffic Management Plan for Phase 1of the South West Scotland Interconnector Project being required. 2.3 The applicant indicates that 210,000 tonnes of rock is required for the Phase one section of the SWS Interconnector to provide temporary roads along the line of the pylons and material for the formation of the pylon foundations. The proposed works on the interconnector line are divided into two sections north and south. 2.4 The northern section requires 102,000 tonnes of stone , 63,000tonnes of which will be provided from Tappet Hill in House of Water while the remaining 39,000 tonnes will be brought in via road from Tincornhill at Sorn. 2.5 The Southern section of the site requires 108,000 tonnes of stone the first 20,000 tonnes being provided by Tincornhill , until the recently approved Clawfin quarry becomes operational thereafter it would provide the remaining 88,000 tonnes of rock. 2.6 Traffic Management Plan incorporates the delivery of up to 120,000tonnes of armour rock, which is not available from Clawfin quarry, from Tincornhill quarry in Sorn to supply the southern end of the site for the substation building and associated works. The vehicles will leave Tincornhill Quarry via Sorn onto the A76, travel south to New Cumnock where they will take the B741 to the southern end of the SWS Interconnector. 2.7 The developer has indicated a willingness to enter into a legal agreement to make a contribution per tonnes of material transported on the road for road improvements in the area. This matter will be dealt with prior to the issue of the planning permission by Ayrshire Roads Alliance. 2.8 These proposals do not include the traffic movements of abnormal loads through Dalmellington which will be the subject of a further revision of the Traffic Management Plan due to ongoing discussions between SPT and various parties. 3. CONSULTATIONS AND ISSUES RAISED 3.1 Ayrshire Roads Alliance have indicated that they have considered the situation and while they still have concerns over the number of vehicle movements through the villages of Sorn and Catrine it is considered that the B743 and B713 should be capable of accommodating the flow of HGVs. The estimated 180 peak flow per day would result in a loaded vehicle passing every 7 minutes. This peak flow is expected to be sustained for 8 months after which it will reduce to every 20 minutes. Similar figures are proposed for the B741 through New Cumnock. It is noted that the Ayrshire Roads Alliance and the Planning Authority have liaised with the developer to find the best possible solutions available for the delivery of the materials required by the project while trying to ensure the amenity and safety of the residents of East Ayrshire. As noted the current proposal continues with a number of vehicle movements through Sorn and Catrine. However these are significantly less than initially proposed by the applicant under the previous revised proposals and they are considered to be reasonable by the Ayrshire Roads Alliance over the temporary duration. 3.2 Transport Scotland have no objections Noted 3.3 Dalmellington, New Cumnock, Ochiltree, Sorn, Lugar & Logan, Cumnock Landward, Catrine, Auchinleck Community Councils have not responded at the time of writing the report. 4. REPRESENTATIONS 4.1 The discharge of planning conditions does not require public consultation. 5. ASSESSMENT AGAINST DEVELOPMENT PLAN 5.1 Sections 25 and 37(2) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 require that planning applications be determined in accordance with the Development Plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. For the purposes of assessing the proposed development, the Development Plan comprises the East Ayrshire local Plan (EALP) 2010 5.2 Policy C52 of the Local Plan indicates that the Council will support the expansion of service infrastructure with East Ayrshire Council.