2019141804 Cadeby Quarry.Pdf
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21 3 Agenda Item 9 DEVELOPMENT CONTROL AND REGULATORY BOARD Thursday, 13 February 2020 REPORT OF THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE 2019/1418/04 Cadeby Quarry PART A – SUMMARY REPORT APP.NO. & DATE: 2019/1418/04 (2019/VOCM/0265/LCC) 14th November 2019. PROPOSAL: Variation of Condition 7 of Planning Permission 2017/0902/04 to allow continuity of production. LOCATION: Cadeby Quarry, Brascote Lane, Cadeby, CV13 0BB. APPLICANT: Nick Atkins, Tarmac Trading Limited. MAIN ISSUE: Phasing of restoration proposals. RECOMMENDATION: PERMIT subject to conditions as set out in the Appendix Circulation Under Local Issues Alert Procedure Mr. I. D. Ould OBE CC Officer to Contact David Wallis (Tel. 0116 305 3835). Email: [email protected] 22 PART B – MAIN REPORT Description of Site 1. Cadeby Quarry is an established sand and gravel quarry located approximately 6km north of Hinckley, 9km south of Ibstock and 2.5km south east of Market Bosworth. The quarrying operations are bounded by the villages of Cadeby, Kirkby Mallory and Newbold Verdon. 2. The quarry lies within an agricultural surrounding interspersed with plantation woodland. The nearest residential properties to the quarry are along Brascote Lane, between the main quarry site and A447. Background 3. Sand and gravel extraction has been ongoing at Cadeby Quarry since 1964 under a number of planning permissions. 4. Two areas of the quarry have recently been worked and extraction completed: 23 Southern area, south of Bosworth Road, between Kirby Mallory and the Ashby Road (A447), as permitted by 2010/0554/04. This area is yet to be fully restored, with a conveyor tunnel under Bosworth Road to be infilled and drainage provision to be laid. Manor Farm area, south of Newbold Verdon and west of Brascote Lane, as permitted by 2015/0178/04 (varied by 2018/0750/04). This area is yet to be restored, with soil placement for final contours to be met and planting undertaken. 5. Planning permission 2017/0902/04 granted an extension to the quarry, for an area to the north west of the main quarry infrastructure (referred to as the Jackson extension). The working of this area is ongoing and is divided into four phases: 1A, 1B, 2A & 2B. The worked mineral is then transported by internal road to the main quarry infrastructure for processing. Description of Proposal 6. Condition 7 of the 2017/0902/04 permission requires mineral extraction to take place in a phased manner and prevents the commencement of mineral working in Phase 2A until the last phase of the Manor Farm area (which is subject to separate planning permissions, the most recent of which is 2018/0750/04) is restored. The quarry exhausted the mineral in Phase 1B towards the end of 2019 with restoration not yet complete at the Manor Farm site. Tarmac wishes to regularise extraction in Phase 2A prior to this restoration. 7. In light of the above, Tarmac is seeking to vary Condition 7 of permission 2017/0902/04 to allow continued extraction of mineral in Phase 2A of the Jackson extension before the completion of restoration at the Manor Farm site. Planning Policy 8. Development Plan Leicestershire Minerals and Waste Local Plan (LMWLP) Policy DM12: Restoration, Aftercare and After-use Policy M2: Supply of Sand and Gravel Aggregate from Existing Sites 9. National National Planning Policy Framework Paragraph 55 Paragraph 205e Consultations 10. Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council Planning: No objection. 11. Cadeby Parish Council: No comment. 12. Market Bosworth Electoral Division Member – Councillor Ivan Ould OBE: No Comment 24 Publicity and Representations 13. The planning application has been publicised by neighbour notification letters posted on 19/12/2019, a site notice posted on 20/12/2019 and a notice in the Hinckley Times on 01/01/2020. 14. No objections have been received. Assessment of Proposal Amending Condition 7 as per the Application 15. In assessing the proposal for mineral extraction in the Jackson extension (2017/0902/04), it was noted that the previous extension to the quarry (Southern area, south of Bosworth Road) remained unrestored at that time. To prevent this from occurring with the Manor Farm area (which was being extracted at the time the Jackson extension application was being determined), it was deemed that a condition be imposed to prevent mineral extraction in Phase 2A of the Jackson extension until such a time that the Manor Farm area is restored. This condition reads: Working shall be carried out sequentially as indicated on Drawing Nos. 2367/ES/2, 2367/ES/3, 2367/ES/5 and 2367/ES/7. No mineral extraction shall be carried out in Phase 2A until the restoration works required to be undertaken in Phase 2B of the Manor Farm Area, as previously permitted by planning permission 2015/0178/04 are complete. 16. The remaining restoration of Manor Farm comprises of soil placement to the approved contours (anticipated to take approximately six weeks) and hedgerow planting. This has not been completed due to poor weather. Paragraph 205e of the NPPF urges mineral planning authorities to provide for restoration and aftercare at the earliest opportunity. Whilst it is unfortunate that the restoration has not been completed to-date, poor weather is justifiable for causing delays. Restoration works undertaken in wet conditions may damage the soil structure, compromising the ability for successful vegetation growth in the future. 17. To maintain continuous production of sand and gravel a variation of this condition is proposed, removing the link between the Jackson and Manor Farm areas. After discussion between the applicant and the planning officer, the applicant suggested that soil placement to achieve the approved restoration contours in all phases at the Manor Farm site is expected to be completed by 30 June 2020, and that associated hedgerow planting would be completed by 31 December 2020, and that this could also be controlled by condition. Given the poor weather in the autumn/winter of 2019, this is expected to be achievable. 18. Notwithstanding the above, in order to impose such a condition, the relevant tests should be satisfied, as stipulated by paragraph 55 of the NPPF. These are whether the condition is: 1.necessary; 2.relevant to planning; 3.relevant to the development to be permitted; 4.enforceable; 5.precise; and 6.reasonable in all other respects. 25 19. It is not deemed necessary to control the restoration of the Manor Farm in this permission when the Manor Farm area is subject to its own planning permission and conditions relating to restoration. Such provision is also not deemed relevant to the permission to be granted (working of mineral in the Jackson extension). 20. Condition 2 of planning permission 2018/0750/04 controls the date by which restoration should be completed by stating that: This permission shall be limited until 15th June 2020, by which time the mineral working operations hereby permitted shall have ceased, all plant, structures and machinery removed and the land reinstated in accordance with the restoration details approved under condition no. 28. 21. Therefore, the variation suggested by Tarmac (to achieve the approved restoration contours in all phases at the Manor Farm site by 30 June 2020, and that hedgerow planting can be completed by 31 December 2020) cannot be imposed on this permission. Linking the Manor Farm Restoration to Phase 2B of the Jackson Land 22. In determining whether Condition 7 could be varied to prevent the commencement of Phase 2B of the Jackson development until the Manor Farm area has been restored, the same tests must be applied. In this case there are no material planning reasons to limit mineral extraction prior to the restoration of a separate, isolated part of the quarry; this would not be relevant to the development concerned (Jackson extension). The justification for enforcing such a condition would also not be clear. 23. This application was submitted on the 14th November 2019. It should be noted that, contrary to the existing stipulation of Condition 7, Tarmac commenced mineral extraction in Phase 2A in the week commencing 18th November 2019. 24. As mineral working at Cadeby Quarry is likely to cease after the completion of Phase 2B of the Jackson extension, some concern has generally been raised that Tarmac may not prioritise restoration of the wider site (the Manor Farm and Southern areas) once mineral production discontinues. This is not material to the winning and working of mineral in the Jackson area, but is subject to control through restoration conditions attached to the respective planning permissions. 25. It is deemed that varying Condition 7 to prevent commencement of extraction in Phase 2B of the Jackson extension until the Manor Farm area has been restored is not necessary or relevant. Updating Conditions 26. A number of conditions attached to the original Jackson extension planning permission (2017/0902/04) are no longer relevant as they required the development to commence within a certain time period, or for further information to be submitted to the Mineral Planning Authority before development commenced. 27. The opportunity has been taken to update the conditions so that those that are no longer relevant have been removed and those which required information to be 26 submitted, now refer to the submitted information. The applicant has had prior sight of the proposed amended conditions. Conclusions 28. Control by condition that mineral working in any phase of the Jackson extension is linked to the restoration of the Manor Farm area is not necessary or relevant in this case. Therefore, it is appropriate to vary Condition 7 to remove any link between the Jackson extension and the Manor Farm area to read: Working shall be carried out sequentially as indicated on Drawing Nos.