Development Management Report
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Committee and Date Item Central Planning Committee 12 7th March 2013 Public Development Management Report Responsible Officer: Stuart Thomas email: [email protected] Tel: 01743 252665 Fax: 01743 252619 Summary of Application Application Number: 12/05179/EIA Parish: Westbury Proposal: Erection of two chicken sheds each housing (maximum) 45,000 birds; associated hard standing, feed bins, dirty water storage tank, access improvement and landscaping works Site Address: Proposed Poultry Units Yockleton Shrewsbury Shropshire Applicant: PF And MJ Williams And Son Case Officer: Amy Mottram email: [email protected] Grid Ref: 338526 - 310241 © Crown Copyright. All rights reserved. Shropshire Council 100049049. 2011 For reference purposes only. No further copies may be made. Central Planning Committee: 7th March 2013 Recommendation: Grant Permission subject to the conditions set out in Appendix 1. Recommended Reason for Approval The proposed development is considered to be acceptable in terms of its use, its design. its visual impact on the rural landscape, and its relationship with the adjacent highway and impact on the local highway network. In addition the proposal takes proper account of sustainability principles and pays sufficient regard to ecological, landscape and environmental issues. Therefore the proposed development is considered to comply with the relevant policies of the adopted Core Strategy : CS5; CS6; CS13; CS17 & CS18. REPORT 1.0 THEPROPOSAL 1.1 This application is seeking planning permission to erect two broiler chicken sheds, each housing a maximum of 45,000 birds, together with associated hard standing, feed bins, dirty water storage tank, access improvement and landscaping works. Due to the number of birds to be housed the application the proposal is a significant application falling within Schedule 1 development as defined in the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 1999. 1.2 The proposed broiler units would be of steel frame with timber lining construction with concrete block dwarf walling to 0.45m high. The poultry sheds would be 4.76m to ridge dropping to 2.59m at eves level, 4no. feed silos would be 5.77m high with a sectional width of 2.66m, located approx. 1m apart. Painted box profile steel sheeting will be used to clad both gable ends of the poultry sheds and sides and the roof will be covered in the same steel sheeting at a 10° pitch. The units will be insulated with fibreglass insulation to walls and roof. The floor and external yard area would be constructed of concrete and access to the sheds for machinery and birds would be via two large painted box profile steel sheet doors, the colour of the sheeting to be agreed. 1.3 To the front of the sheds there would be a concrete apron where the lorries and tractors loading and unloading the chicks, feed and manure can manoeuvre and turnaround. The units would contain poly carbonate windows along both sides to enable the poultry enterprise to conform to RSPCA ‘Freedom Food’ welfare standards at a later date. Four feed bins of steel construction (colour coordinated with colour of sheds) each 7.5 metres high and 2.8 m in diameter will be located in between the sheds. 2.0 SITE LOCATION/DESCRIPTION 2.1 The proposed site is located to the north west of the village of Yockleton approximately 6 miles west of Shrewsbury in west Shropshire and is bounded to the south by the B4386 (between Yockleton and Stoney Stretton/Westbury). Contact Stuart Thomas on 01743 252665 Central Planning Committee: 7th March 2013 2.2 The proposed site comprises 87 acres (35.21 ha) of arable land within open countryside and is currently down to an Autumn sown grain crop with the field bounded by hedgerow to all sides. The proposed site and surrounding area is not subject to any designations, with the nearest SSSI’s being Earls Hill and Habberley Valley within 4.6 kilometres, the River Severn and Montford within 4.4 kilometres, together with the Shropshire AONB 4.6 kilometres to the south of the site. 2.3 The site is currently in arable production with the field itself large in scale with surrounding hedges kept cut short making them relatively indistinguishable from the surrounding farmland. Despite the general lack of tree cover within the vicinity, the site’s footprint within the wider field pattern is relatively well screened from the road network immediately to the south and west of the site due to the undulating topography and condition and height of the road boundary hedgerows. 3.0 REASON FOR COMMITTEE DETERMINATION OF APPLICATION 3.1 The proposal is a significant application falling within Schedule 1 development as defined in the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 1999 and is accompanied by a full Environmental Impact Assessment. Part 8 of the Council Constitution (Delegation to officers) requires that such applications are determined by Committee. 4.0 COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIONS 4.1 - Consultee Comments Westbury Parish Council - Support of local agricultural business on a low impact site. 4.2 SC Public Protection - No comments on this application. 4.3 SC Drainage Engineer - The drainage proposal is acceptable. 4.4 English Heritage - The application should be determined in accordance with national and local policy guidance, and on the basis of your specialist conservation advice. 4.5 Natural England - This proposal does not appear to affect any statutorily protected sites or landscapes, or have significant impacts on the conservation of soils. 4.6 SC Archaeology - Following receipt of the Planning Authority’s Scoping Opinion and advice from English Heritage, the applicant has submitted an archaeological Desk Based Assessment as part of their Environment Impact Assessment (Appendix 14). This demonstrates that, whilst there are no known heritage assets on the proposed development site itself, a total of thirteen nondesignated heritage assets are present within or just outside a 500m radius study area around the site. These include two probable Iron Age - Romano-British farmstead enclosures (HER PRNs 04234 and 28637), the Roman road from Wroxeter to Forden Gaer (HER PRN 00098) and the former medieval deer park that once existed to the West of Contact Stuart Thomas on 01743 252665 Central Planning Committee: 7th March 2013 Yockleton (HER PRN 07717). On this basis the assessment concludes that there is a low potential for archaeological remains of prehistoric, Roman and/ or medieval date to be present on the proposed development site itself and that the impact of the proposed development on any such remains would be high. It is therefore recommended that an archaeological watching brief during the ground works phase of the development would provide an adequate level of mitigation. 4.7 The Desk Based Assessment also considers the impact of the proposed development on the setting of the designated heritage assets within a wider 1.5km radius around the site. Prepared in relation to English Heritage guidance on The Setting of Heritage Assets (2011), this demonstrates particularly that the proposed development will not affect the settings of Listed Buildings in Yockleton or Stoney Stretton. In addition, it indicates that the proposed development will not be visible from the Scheduled Monument at Yockleton (Monument No. 19226 Motte castle 250m west of Yockleton Hall) and the impact will therefore negligible. The second Scheduled Monument (Monument No. 19211 Ringwork and bailey castle 100m north-east of Heath Farm) is partially screened by intervening vegetation, and its setting has been affected by the railway line and the development of modern farm building at Heath Farm. The overall impact on this monument from the proposed development is therefore deemed to be negligible to minor adverse. 4.8 The Archaeological Desk Based Assessment by the Shropshire Council Archaeology Service, dated November 2012, within Appendix 14 of the Environmental Impact Assessment, provides a satisfactory level of information about the archaeological interest of the site in relation to Paragraph 128 of the NPPF. In view of the above, and in relation to Paragraph 141 of the NPPF, It is recommended that a programme of archaeological work, to comprise a watching brief during the ground works phase of the development, be made a condition of any planning permission for the proposed development. 4.9 SC Highways - The proposed development would access directly onto the B4386 at a location where the carriageway is relatively straight and good levels of visibility are achievable in both directions. The likely vehicle movements arising from the proposed poultry operation as detailed in Section 6.8.1 of the EIA can be adequately accommodated by this Class II highway. Formerly there would have been an appreciable level of vehicle movements arising from the production of sugar beat on the farm, especially at harvesting time. Although the vehicle movements would again be intensified at harvesting times during the broiler cycle, these would be spread throughout the year and at their peak occur during the night when other traffic levels on the highway are low. The removal of manure from the operation would appear to balance out to some extent with the current need to import it from outside farms for arable crop production on the applicant’s farm. It is noted that it is anticipated that 20% of the manure will be spread directly onto land without the need for it to be transport along the highway. 4.10 The access layout and construction details provided within the application are acceptable for the type and nature of the vehicle movements arising from the proposal. It would be desirable to have this access formed to a base course level prior to construction commencing on the site and the surfacing finished prior to the units being brought into use. Contact Stuart Thomas on 01743 252665 Central Planning Committee: 7th March 2013 4.11 SC Rights of Way Officer - It appears that the proposal will not directly affect any public rights of way; however the access road leading from the County Highway west of Yockleton to serve the chicken sheds will directly affect Footpath 20 Westbury Parish.