Land Adjoining Berth T and Graving Dock Royal Edward Dock Bristol
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Development Control Committee A – 22 February 2017 ITEM NO. 4 Avonmouth & Lawrence WARD: Weston CONTACT OFFICER: Stuart Langer SITE ADDRESS: Land Adjoining Berth T And Graving Dock Royal Edward Dock Bristol APPLICATION NO: 16/05322/F Full Planning EXPIRY DATE: 18 January 2017 Construction of a temporary pre-cast concrete production facility and associated development including a concrete batching plant, cranes, offices, storage areas and parking, loading and unloading facilities (Major Application). RECOMMENDATION: Grant subject to Condition(s) AGENT: Ian Jewson Planning Ltd APPLICANT: Costain Ltd 1 Gas Ferry Road c/o agent Bristol BS1 6UN The following plan is for illustrative purposes only, and cannot be guaranteed to be up to date. LOCATION PLAN: DO NOT SCALE 10/02/17 16:42 Committee report Item no. 4 Development Control Committee A – 22 February 2017 Application No. 16/05322/F : Land Adjoining Berth T And Graving Dock Royal Edward Dock Bristol 1.0 SUMMARY 1.1 This application is being brought before the Bristol Development Control Committee due to its scale and importance to a nationally significant project, specifically the construction of the new Hinkley Point C nuclear power station. 1.2 The application has received an ‘advise against’ recommendation (objection) from The Health and Safety Executive. However it is considered that draft conditions set out below will overcome the issues they have raised. Nonetheless, approval of the application is technically against their advice and as such it is felt that the committee should make the final decision to allow further scrutiny and discussion. 1.3 This report relates to an application for full planning permission for a concrete batching plant to be constructed at ‘Land Adjoining Berth T and Graving Dock’, at Bristol Port in Avonmouth. The batching plant will be used to make concrete segments that will form the water intake tunnels for the new Hinkley Point C nuclear power station. The segments will be made and stored at this facility, and then transported to the nuclear power station construction site, mainly by road and very occasionally by boat. Due to the need to produce a large number of segments the facility is intended to operate on a 24 hour basis. Once the nuclear power station is complete the facility will no longer be required and as such the application is for a temporary consent, for four years only. After this it is intended that the building will be dismantled and the site returned to port related storage uses. 2.0 BACKGROUND TO THE PROJECT 2.1 A nationally significant development project to construct a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in North Somerset received consent from the Secretary of State on 19 March 2013. The project seeks to build a new nuclear power station called Hinkley Point C, which is next to Hinkley Point B which will be decommissioned. 2.2 In order to cool the new nuclear power station, water is required to be taken from the Severn Estuary, and then released back once it has done this. In order to do this, three tunnels are required, two intake and one outlet. These will be laid approximately 20m beneath the sea bed. The intake tunnels will be 3.4 and 3.5km long and 6m in diameter. The outlet tunnel will be 1.8km long and 7m in diameter. At the point where the water is taken in / released there will be two ‘head’ units per tunnel (six total), which connect the tunnel to the marine environment. 2.3 The tunnels are to be pre-fabricated in concrete sections, which are taken to site and then joined together in situ. The facility to which this application relates is the concrete batching plant that will make the tunnel segments. These will weigh either 4.8 or 4.2 tonnes each (depending on which tunnel it is for) and will be transported to the site from this facility by road. 2.4 The facility to which this application relates will be required to construct around 38,000 segments, this equates to 83,000m3 of concrete. At its peak, the facility will be producing 600 segments a week and will require 300m3 of concrete per day. 2.5 The facility will also make the six ‘head’ units, which are to be taken out to their location by boat, due to their size / weight. Item no. 4 Development Control Committee A – 22 February 2017 Application No. 16/05322/F : Land Adjoining Berth T And Graving Dock Royal Edward Dock Bristol 3.0 SITE DESCRIPTION AND WIDER CONTEXT 3.1 The site is located at Bristol Docks, specifically on land adjacent to T Berth. The site is split into two sections, Site A and site B. Site A is brownfield land that was previously occupied with a warehouse, which has since been dismantled. It is surfaced with a mixture of broken hardstanding and loose gravel / mud. Site B is existing hardstanding that was previously used as for car storage. The area surrounding the site is used for port related activities including temporary storage and movement of goods. 3.2 The site is accessed by internal roads to the port, which in turn are accessed from King Road, Victoria Road and St Andrews Road / Smoke Lane. The site can also be accessed by sea, due to its location at Bristol Docks. 3.3 The nearest residential development is approximately 600m to the south-west of the site. To the immediate north, west and south west is the Severn Estuary, which is protected by a number of environmental designations including: - Special Area of Conservation (SAC) Severn Estuary European Marine Site (EMS) - Special Protection Area (SPA) - RAMSAR site - Site of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCI) - Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) 3.4 In addition part B of the site is actually in part of the Severn Estuary Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), although this has been used for car parking for a number of years. 3.5 The area surrounding the site is therefore very important for nature conservation and protection. 3.6 The site is located in Flood Zones 2 and 3. 3.7 The site is within the inner consultation distances for a number of control of major accident hazards (COMAH) zones. 3.8 The 1908 pumping station is a locally listed building, which is approximately 60m from the site, across the graving dock. The nearest listed building is Grade II listed Royal Hotel at 24 Gloucester Road. This is approximately 840m from the site, and is outside of the port area. The site is not a conservation area and does not have any other historic designations. 3.9 The site is also within the ‘Port operations’ Principle Industrial and Warehousing as set out in the Bristol Local Plan allocations plan. 3.10 The site is not in a coal risk area. 3.11 The site is not within an air quality management area. Item no. 4 Development Control Committee A – 22 February 2017 Application No. 16/05322/F : Land Adjoining Berth T And Graving Dock Royal Edward Dock Bristol 4.0 DESCRIPTION OF DEVELOPMENT 4.1 The development of the site is on two parts, Site A and Site B. 4.2 Site A will be the location of the segment manufacturing facility. Specifically, this will include: - Concrete Batching Plant (this is the equipment that mixes the ingredients to make the concrete) - Aggregate Storage - Facility to create the reinforced concrete segments - Area outside for storage of the tunnel segments - Storage for the offshore tunnel heads - Laboratory - Electrical substation 4.3 The submitted plans indicate that the concrete batching plant itself will be 20.6m in height. The building to the north of this where the concrete segments are made will be up to 16.5m in height and will be 36m wide by 200m long. This will have an industrial shed like appearance and is to be built by steel frame clad in aluminium coloured to match nearby buildings. The foundations are to be piled due to the wet ground conditions. The laboratory will have a foot print of 9x12 m and be 5m tall. The ready mix storage bins will store material up to 20m in height. 4.4 The segments will be transported to the outside storage area by overhead gantry crane, which will be at most 12m tall. 4.5 The tunnel head sections, once they are made, will be approx. 35m long, 10m wide and 2.8m tall. 4.6 Site A will be 44,868m2 in area. 4.7 Site B is a hardstanding area which has previously been used for car parking. The intention is that this will be used to provide a 203 space car park for the facility, and that it will also be site of welfare facilities for the site, including site offices, sanitary areas, cafeteria facilities and, reception areas. These will be provided in a two storey building made in a temporary modular design. This will have a footprint of 12m x 66m and be up to 8.5m tall. 4.8 Site B is 9,732m2 in area. 4.9 The site will operate 24 hours a day seven days a week. The average workforce on the site is estimated to be around 150, with a peak of around 396 during the head construction and early segment manufacturing works. 4.10 Aggregate will be delivered to the site by road. At most there are anticipated to be around 76 loaded HGV movements a day associated with the export of tunnel segments. Access to and from the site will be via internal port roads and the main access roads between the Avonmouth Dock entrance and Junction 18 of the M5 motorway.