DEVELOPMENT CONTROL AND REGULATION COMMITTEE 31 July 2003 A Report by the Assistant Director (Environment) _________________________________________________________________________________________ ___ Application No 4/03/9014 & 4/03/9015 District Copeland Applicant United Utilities Plc Parish Lowside Quarter Service Delivery Dawson House Date of Receipt 18 June 2003 Warrington _________________________________________________________________________________________ ___ PROPOSAL Widening of existing access, creation of new passing place, new access road and preliminary earthworks (application 4/03/9014), and Construction of a new Wastewater Treatment Works (application 4/03/9015) Land adjacent to Warborough Nook, Braystones, Beckermet _________________________________________________________________________________________ ___ 1.0 RECOMMENDATION 1.1 That planning permission for application 4/03/9014 is GRANTED subject to the conditions set out in Appendix 1. 1.2 That planning permission for application 4/03/9015 is GRANTED subject to the conditions set out in Appendix 2. 2.0 BACKGROUND 2.1 United Utilities submitted a planning application for a new Wastewater Treatment Works (WwTW) on Warborough Nook, Braystones in July 2002. Warborough Nook is a coastal landscape feature rising to a maximum 25 metres above the land to the south, east and west. The application was strongly opposed locally with over 150 letters of objection received. In January 2003 the applicants withdrew that application. The current applications represent a replacement proposal. 2.2 The proposal is the major element in a scheme to improve water quality in this part of the county. A new treatment works is required to meet a revised discharge consent which will come into force in 2005. The revision is required in order to comply with the EC Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive and the EC Bathing Water Directive. At the present time wastewater from Egremont, Thornhill, Beckermet and Braystones, a combined population equivalent of 10,000, is discharged without treatment via a short sea outfall. A new 2km long outfall was completed in 1994 but remains unconnected. This would be utilised as part of this development. 2.3 The scheme also involves transferring flows from St Bees and Nethertown to the proposed WwTW. The existing works at St Bees does not provide adequate treatment to meet the revised discharge consent. Treatment at the site would be replaced by a pumping station and dosing plant. An intermediate pumping station would be constructed to transfer flows to Nethertown (see application 4/02/9014 also on this agenda). At Nethertown there is currently a crude discharge to the foreshore. It is proposed that the flows from St Bees and Nethertown would combine in a new storm water tank at Nethertown. A new pumping station would pump the combined flow to the existing Braystones gravity sewer which flows to the existing short sea outfall (see application 4/92/9018 also on this agenda). The proposed new works would pick up the flow leading to that outfall. 3.0 THE PROPOSAL 3.1 Planning application 4/03/9015 seeks permission to construct a new wastewater treatment works between the western escarpment slope of Warborough Nook and the railway line. The site is about 700 metres south of the centre of Braystones. 3.2 The flows would be subject to screening, grit removal, biological treatment, final settlement and ultra violet disinfection before discharge via the long sea outfall. This would require the provision of the following plant: · Inlet Works. These would include screening equipment and a detritor for the removal of large and small items respectively. These works would be essentially a linear item of plant around 30 metres long. With its associated machinery the plant would be 5-6 metres high. · Two Compact Activated Sludge Tanks. These would provide the biological treatment of the wastewater by mixing the incoming flow with activated sludge. This would be done in the outer concentric ring of the tank. Flows would be removed from this to the inner tank for settlement. The sludge would settle to the bottom of the tank for removal whilst the treated wastewater would flow over a weir to undergo tertiary treatment. The tanks would be 29 metres in diameter and the top would be 1.1 metres above ground level. The associated machinery used to transfer flows and clean the tanks would stand 2.3m above ground level. · Sludge Tanks. The plant would require two pre-thickened sludge tanks 10m in diameter and 9 metres high (10.5m including odour control ducts and vent stacks), two sludge thickener tanks 1.8 metres in diameter and 4.45m high and two thickened sludge tanks 5.0 metres in diameter and 9 metres high. · Ultraviolet Plant. This plant would provide final disinfection before discharge. The plant would measure 14.8m x 4.0 m x 1.75m high. 3.3 Three buildings are proposed to control the processes. The main control building would be located at the southern end of the works and would measure 22m x 12m x 8.4m high to the ridge of the roof. The proposed sludge process control building would be located at the northern end of the site. It would measure 7.5 m x 6.5m x 5.9 m high to the roof ridge. The Ultraviolet (UV) control building would be located next to the UV treatment plant. It would measure 7.5 metres x 3.5 metres x 4.9 metres to the ridge of the roof. All the buildings would be finished with random rubble, natural stone walls with natural stone quoins, lintels and sills. The roofs would be constructed of natural Westmorland green slates and doors would be hardwood, stained dark brown. 3.4 Planning application 4/03/9014 seeks permission for road improvements leading to the site, a new access track and earthworks. The road improvements comprise widening two small sections of road leading to the site and the construction of a new passing place. A new access would be constructed from the track to the Lantern Moss Caravan Park to the site of the new works. The track would be around 500m long single width carriageway surfaced with tarmac. The road would be partially in cut and partially on embankment to reduce the gradient over the top and down the escarpment slope of Warborough Nook. 3.5 Just under 10,000m³ of material would arise from the earthworks to construct the road, and excavations to install plant. It is proposed to use this material to construct two landscaping mounds at the northern and southern ends of the site. The mound at the northern end, utilising around 6000m³ of material, would be up to 6 metres high and would be filled against the steep slope of Warborough Nook. Part of this mound would provide an embankment on which the new access road would be constructed. The remaining material would be used to construct a 3 metre high roughly crescent shape mound at the southern end of the site. Part of this mound would be used to create sand dunes. This would be part of the works to provide alternative natterjack toad habitat to replace habitat that would be lost as a result of the proposed development. The other element of the habitat would involve the creation of four shallow ponds around 5 metres in diameter. 3.6 The anticipated period for construction is 62 weeks. United Utilities propose to operate a ‘one way’ system to control the construction traffic to all the development sites associated with this scheme ie including the schemes at Nethertown and the intermediate pumping station. This system would be required because the roads leading to all these sites have a restricted width. The one way system would operate for all material, equipment and plant deliveries to the sites using large vehicles. It would operate between 0900 to 1530 Monday to Friday to allow residents to go to and from work, schools, etc as normal. A temporary traffic regulation order would be applied for to implement the one way system. Access would be gained from the A595(T) using the B5345 Morras Road to a marshalling yard at the Bingo Wood Storage area. From the B5349 the Middle Ehenside to Braystones Road, and the Braystones to St Bees road would be used. Some two-way sections would apply within this system to allow residents to access their properties. It is anticipated that a maximum of 20 large vehicle movements would take place to/from the Braystones site per day. When complete the site would be serviced by 1 or 2 tanker visits per day. 4.0 CONSULTATIONS AND REPRESENTATIONS 4.1 Copeland Borough Council (Planning) will consider the proposal at the meeting of the planning panel on 13 August 2003. 4.2 Copeland Borough Council (Environmental Health) Noise - It is considered that the ‘residents’ at Lantern Moss Caravan Site, are particularly vulnerable to noise (particularly night-time noise) from the proposed works and that, therefore, a suitable noise condition should be imposed if planning permission is granted. The ‘Pre-Construction Noise Survey’ by Hepworth Acoustics Ltd has been studied and it is noted that recorded night-time noise levels at Lantern Moss Caravan Site were higher than the recorded day-time levels, which raises question about the validity of the survey figures. If a condition related to the background noise levels (night and day) is to be formulated and imposed then obviously it is essential that the correct figures for background noise are used. Odour - Bearing in mind recent and current odour problems arising from WwTW’s elsewhere, notably the Whitehaven Works at Parton and the Workington Works at Siddick, effective and tight conditions should be imposed as regards odour. The Lantern Moss Caravan Site is close to and down-wind of prevailing wind direction from the proposed works 4.3 Lowside Quarter Parish Council and St Johns Beckermet Parish Council (adjacent) have no comments 4.4 St Bridget Beckermet Parish Council (adjacent) The only concern of the Parish Council would have is over the control of vehicles coming to the site.