15/00919/FUL Location: Land at Mere Lane, Bittesby Proposal
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Planning Committee Report Applicants: IDI Gazeley Application Ref: 15/00919/FUL Location: Land At Mere Lane, Bittesby Proposal: Erection of 100,844sqm Storage and Distribution centre (B8) with ancillary B1(a) offices on land adjoining and linked to Magna Park, including formation of access road from Magna Park, erection of gatehouse, creation of roundabouts, partial realignment of Mere Lane and upgrading of A5 to dual carriageway, creation of SuDS facilities and associated infrastructure and landscaping works. Application Validated: 16th June 2015 Application Target Date: 15th September 2015 Site Visit Dates: 23rd June, 3rd July, 12th October, 30th November Consultation Expiry Date:28th October 2015 Case Officer: Mark Patterson Recommendation Planning Permission is APPROVED, for the reasons set out in the report, subject to:- (i) The proposed conditions set out in Appendix B; and (ii) The Applicant’s entering into a legal agreement under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (and S38/S278 of the Highways Act 1980) to provide for the obligations set out in Appendix C and justified in Section 6c of this report; and (iii) Confirmation from the National Planning Casework Unit that the Secretary of State will not be calling the application in for determination. 1. Site & Surroundings 1.1 The application site comprises approximately 60 ha of land to the north, west and east of Mere Lane and alongside the A5, adjacent to Magna Park, Lutterworth, and linked to it via the proposed extension to Argosy Way. The nearest local settlement is Willey which is 0.85 km away and separated from the site by the A5. To the north are the villages of Ullesthorpe, Bitteswell and Claybrooke Parva which are located 1.7 km, 2.1 km and 2.4 km from the application site respectively. The town of Lutterworth is located 1.7 km to the east, beyond which is located Junction 20 of the M1. See (Figure 1) 1.2 The existing Magna Park complex is a 202 hectare (500 acre) warehousing and logistic centre (distribution centre) located near Lutterworth, Leicestershire, England and was constructed on the site of a former airfield (RAF Bitteswell). It is considered to be a pioneer of large distribution centres in the UK. It is located in an area of land bounded by the M1, M6 and M69 motorways; known as the ‘Golden Triangle’ for its logistically favourable location. 1.3 The application site (see Figures 2 and 3) includes three large open arable fields, the edges of two further medium to large arable fields, three smaller enclosed fields, some mature hedgerow boundaries, with some standard trees and mixed native tree belts. The main fields of the site gently slope down from Mere Lane towards the Upper Soar Valley from circa 125 m AOD in the north east to circa 110 m in the west. Figure 1: Contextual Site location 1.4 The site is crossed by a farm track and permissive access bridleways created under a Higher Level Stewardship scheme (HLS) administered by Natural England, with the current agreement set to run until 31st October 2017. Two cottages, known as Bittesby Cottages, are located on this farm track to the west of the site. Figure 2: Site Location Plan 1.5 Further north, parts of three further arable fields are included within the area of the application site, up to the ridge line which is marked by a bridleway. To the north west, the red line boundary of the site also includes a 20 m wide strip of arable land with the application proposes for tree P a g e | 2 planting. The strip lies alongside an existing hedgerow and continues across an arable field to meet the existing ridgeline hedgerow that forms the Ullesthorpe Parish boundary. Figure 3: Aerial Photo of site 1.6 At the north eastern end of the site is the Mere Lane Lagoon which attenuates water draining from Magna Park and feeds a watercourse that runs along a small tributary valley of the River Soar to the northern and western sides of the site 1.7 To the south east of Mere Lane, the site includes an area of rough grassland and two belts of trees located adjacent to the Magna Park services farm with its associated plant and water treatment / attenuation pools and reed beds. Another water course drains from these pools flows under Mere Lane and along the south western end of the main part of the site. To the south and east of the site, also on the opposite side of Mere Lane, are the logistics warehouses of the existing Magna Park development. 1.8 Alongside the Magna Park service farm and to the west, the application site boundary includes a section of Mere Lane, existing woodland belts either side of the lane and a strip along the edge of two large arable fields. Further west, the site includes a linear parcel of land to the east of the A5 corridor where there are some scattered existing trees and intermittent sections of hedgerow and some individual native shrubs. This vegetation is located on a bank sloping down from a wide grass verge at the edge of the carriageway. To the south of Mere Lane there is a wide grass verge, running up to a mature hedgerow which is located on level ground in front of a woodland planted embankment which forms the boundary to Magna Park. Further to the north, on this side of the A5, there is a conifer belt and a line of deciduous trees located at the roadside alongside Lodge and Emmanuel Cottages. Both cottages are within the control of IDI Gazeley and will be demolished if planning permission for the application is approved. P a g e | 3 1.9 On the western side of the of the A5, there is a public footpath and bridleway connecting to the edge of the A5 from Willey and these run up to and pass through two rows of post and rail fence set behind a wide grass verge. A mature hedge line and with occasional trees follows the fence alignment nearest to the A5 and partially follows the fence line set further back on the field boundary. Widening works (with the exception of part of a new roundabout junction) will be focused on the eastern side of the road. 1.10 The application site does not include, nor is it adjacent to, any statutory designated ecology sites such as SSSIs, SPA/SAC/RAMSAR, AONB. Furthermore, The site area does not include, nor is it adjacent to, any non-statutory designated sites. The Old Manor Reedbed Local Wildlife Site (LWS) is situated approximately 1.5 km to the north of the site. There are also a candidate LWS and a Potential LWS between 1.5 km and 2 km from the site, neither of which have been designated. 1.11 The site area does not contain any designated heritage assets. Although the Scheduled Monument of Bittesby Deserted Medieval Village is located in close proximity to the corridor of proposed planting, the closest edge of the proposed built development lies c 420m from the eastern most edge of the Scheduled Monument boundary. The geophysical and field walking surveys of the accessible areas within the site found no evidence of significant archaeological activity of any period within the application boundary although there are a small number of geophysical anomalies that may be of limited archaeological interest. Bittesby House which is considered to be a non-designated heritage asset is located adjacent to the western boundary of the site. 2. Site History 2.1 Whilst Magna Park itself has a considerable planning history, the application site has a relatively limited planning history as set out below in Figure 4: Plan No. Decision / Date Name of Nature of Development Applicant 97/00361/3F WITHDRAWN D J R Morgan Formation of private way at Bittesby 14.11.97 House Farm Bittesby 03/00088/FUL APPROVED A M Jolly Creation of new vehicular access at 17.03.03 Bittesby House, Watling Street 03/01417/FUL APPROVED CHAPCO Change of use to offices at Bittesby 12.11.03 Directors House, Watling Street Pension Scheme 14/01721/SCP SCOPING DHL Supply Environmental Impact Assessment REPORT Chain Scoping Opinion for the erection of ISSUED a building of up to 90,000 sq m 29.04.15 floorspace for B8 (storage and distribution) use, including ancillary B1 (office) floorspace Land At, Mere Lane, Bittesby Figure 4: Application Site History 3. The Application Submission a) Summary of Proposals 3.1 The proposal seeks full planning permission for the development of a Supply Chain facility and comprises of the following key components P a g e | 4 • the development of approximately 56 ha of land to the north and west of Magna Park, accessed from, and linked to Magna Park across Mere Lane by an extension to Argosy Way. The demise for the building is c 22 ha, with the remainder of the c 34 ha site given to the access arrangements and landscape works; • a 100,844 sqm distribution warehouse facility including ancillary offices, gatehouse, fuelling and vehicle washing facilities, associated service and goods yards, on-plot access roads and staff car parking; • roof-mounted photovoltaics (PVs) for on-site energy generation • the expansion of the existing Magna Park services farm to accommodate the foul water needs of the application development; • landscape (including ecology) mitigation and enhancements, planted earthworks, native woodland planting, integrated sustainable urban drainage systems (SuDS), permissible bridleways and habitat connections to integrate the development in its wider rural setting; • off-site woodland spinney and hedgerow reinforcement planting to mitigate sensitive views in the wider landscape; • road improvements to the A5 trunk road to include the extension of dual carriageway between Lodge and Emmanuel cottages (to be demolished) and Mere Lane and a new roundabout at the A5 junction with Mere Lane; • a new road extension from Argosy Way across Mere Lane to connect the development site to Magna Park and the realignment of Mere Lane between the proposed A5 roundabout junction and a new roundabout junction with the extension to Argosy Way; • a realigned access track to the Holovis International at Bittesby Barn Buildings, also for access to the farm; and • a small new public car park to allow access to the Magna Park amenity land (existing and proposed) and the permissive footpath network, the Mere Lane Lagoon (the existing attenuation pond for Magna Park) and the additional attenuation lakes created by the application development.