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.

The proposed Traffic Management Plan is integral to the delivery of the South West Scotland Interconnector Project and therefore it accords with this policy.

5.3 Policy T3 of the local plan requires that all development proposals should meet the requisite Standards of the Council as Roads Authority.

The Ayrshire Roads Authority have no objection to the proposals.

6. ASSESSMENT AGAINST MATERIAL CONSIDERATIONS

6.1 The principal material considerations relevant to the determination of this application are the National Planning Framework 2, Scottish Planning Policy (SPP), reports to the Council 24 May 2013 and 19 September 2013 (Steps to Recovery), reports to the Planning Committee 29 November 2013 and 12 December 2013, the impact on the amenity of the area, the supporting statement from the applicant and the comments of the consultees.

Scottish Planning Policy (SPP)

6.2 With regards to Renewable Energy, the SPP indicates that the commitment to increase the amount of electricity generated from renewable sources is a vital part of response to climate change.

The Proposal relates to an Infrastructure Project which will facilitate the delivery of future renewable energy developments.

National Planning Framework 2 (NPF2)

6.3 NPF2 indicates that the capacity of parts of the existing electricity system needs to be increased to facilitate this transmission. Given the long lead-in time for electricity transmission projects, much of this work must be taken forward soon. These strategic grid reinforcements are essential to provide the transmission capacity necessary to realise the potential of Scotland's renewable energy resources, maintain long-term security of electricity supply and support sustainable economic development. The South- West Scotland transmission line is identified on Map 8 (of the NPF2) as being one of the areas of Transmission system reinforcements being required.

Supporting Statement by Applicant

6.4 The Applicant had originally submitted a revised traffic management plan which contained three options for the overall delivery of stone to the SWS Interconnector Project. Through discussions with the Ayrshire Roads Alliance and the Planning Authority these options were refined from three to the current Traffic Management Plan which utilises two sources of stone local to the project (Tappet Hill and Clawfin quarries) with the remaining stone supplied from Tincornhill quarry.

Impact on Amenity

6.5 While the proposals will involve an intensification of vehicle movement on the public road greater than that approved under the previous TMP it is deemed to be reasonable given the temporary time periods of the project and availability of locally sourced stone.

Consultation responses

6.6 The consultees have raised no adverse comments regarding this proposal.

6.7 Relevant Planning history

09/0131/EB - South West Scotland Interconnector Project - Approved 19/12/2013

13/0775/PP Tappethill, House of Water – Stone crushing - Approved 16/5/2014

14/0269/PP Clawfin Quarry Dalmellington, stone quarry - Approved by Planning Committee on 13/6/14

Reports to Council dated 24 of May 2013 and 19 September 2013 and to the Planning Committee 29 November 2013 and 12 December 2013

6.8 These Reports set out the underlying principles which the Council will take in relation to the actions required on the major developments such as this.

7. FINANCIAL AND LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

7.1 The developer has indicated a willingness to enter into a legal agreement with the Council to make a contribution per tonnes of material transported on the road for road improvements in the area. The decision notice should be withheld until such time as the legal agreement is concluded.

8. CONCLUSIONS

8.1 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.

8.2 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.

9. RECOMMENDATIONS

9.1 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.

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

LIST OF BACKGROUND PAPERS

1. Application Forms/Plans. 2. Statutory Letters/Certificates 3. East Ayrshire Coal Subject Plan 2003. 4 National Planning Framework 2, 5 Scottish Planning Policy (SPP), 6 Reports to the Council 24 May 2013 and 19 September 2013 (Steps to Recovery), 7 Reports to the Planning Committee 29 November 2013 and 12 December 2013, 8 Planning history 9 Consultees responses.

Anyone wishing to inspect the above papers please contact Craig Iles Energy Team Leader, on 01563 576772.

Implementation Officer, David McDowall, Operations Manager

TP24 East Ayrshire Council

TOWN & COUNTRY PLANNING (SCOTLAND) ACT 1997

Application No: 14/0208/AMCPP

Location Proposed Electricity Line B7046 From U728 Glenconner To C61 Darntaggart Ochiltree East Ayrshire

Nature of Proposal: Discharge of Condition 24 (Traffic Management Plan) of Planning Consent 09/0131/EB

Name and Address of Applicant: SP Energy Networks Ochil House 10 Technology Avenue Technology Park Blantyre G72 0HT

Name and Address of Agent

Officer’s Ref: Craig Iles 01563 553234

The above Approval of Matters Specified in Conditions(PP) application should be Approved Subject To Condition

1. The site operator shall maintain a log of heavy goods vehicle trips, including the volume of stone delivered, into and out of the site and this shall be made available to the Planning Authority on a monthly basis.

Reason: To enable monitoring of the frequency of vehicle movements to and from the site and the qualities of stone imported to site.

Reason for the Decision:- The proposed development generally accords with the development plan and the material considerations do not indicate, on balance, that the development should be refused contrary to the development plan.