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Jeff Upton: Planning Consultant - Planning Committee 17/07/2018 17/00959/FUL Mr Mark Holt ACTON TRUSSELL, BEDNALL & TEDDESLEY HAY Councillor L Bates Councillor I Ford The Toft Farm Levedale Road Levedale Stafford South Staffordshire ST18 9LH Erection of 4 No. agricultural buildings for turkey rearing, and associated infrastructure. 1.SITE DESCRIPTION AND PLANNING HISTORY 1.1 Site description 1.1.1 The site is in a rural location and there are fields, agricultural buildings and residential properties in the wider surrounding area. 1.1.2 To the west is the highway between The Toft and Little Heath known as Levedale Road, which provides access to Coppenhall further to the north and Levedale and then Penkridge to the South. 1.1.3 The site is the south west corner of an existing field, bounded by a hedge to the west, south and east and an open boundary the remainder of the field to the north. 1.1.4 There are residential properties located in converted and farmstead buildings at Toft Farm, approximately 250 metres to the north. 1.2 Relevant Planning History None 1.3 Pre-application Discussion Pre-application engagement has taken place. 2. APPLICATION DETAILS 2.1 Proposal 2.1.1 The application proposes -the erection of four poultry buildings, each measuring approximately 97.5 metres by 20 metres, with an eaves height of approximately 3 metres and a ridge height of 5.6 metres. The buildings would be connected by two 6m by 6m link control rooms and served by four feed bins. -2 feed blending rooms measuring 3m by 3m with an eaves height of approximately 2.4m and a ridge height of 2.8m; Jeff Upton: Planning Consultant - Planning Committee 17/07/2018 -a gate house measuring 12.3m by 7m with an eaves height of 2.6m and ridge of 3.2m; -a dead bird store measuring 4m by 4m with an eaves height of 2.4m and a ridge of 2.9m; -a circular water tank measuring 6m diameter; -four bulk gas tanks; -a new highway access, hardstandings and turning areas; -an attenuation pond The proposed poultry buildings would house a total of 20,000 birds with 5,000 in each building. 2.1.2 The buildings would be purpose built poultry units, with steel portal frames and block work, finished with polyester powder coated profile sheeting for the walls and roof in olive green. The poultry buildings would be fitted with high velocity ridge mounted ventilation fans and side inlet vents with internal gas heating systems, chain feeders and non-drip hippie feeders. 2.1.3 The application states there will be 3 flock cycles a year. The turkeys would be reared from 40 days old up to finished table weight. Each flock cycle would take 114 days, on an all in all out system. For around 100 days the turkeys would be reared at the proposed development site, then during the following 14 days the buildings would be cleaned out, left empty and prepared for the next batch. 2.2 Agents Submission The following documents have been submitted as part of the application: - Design Access and Planning statement - Noise Impact Assessment - Odour Impact Assessment - Preliminary Ecological Appraisal- including updates - Specialist Appraisal and Reasonable Avoidance Measures - Calculation of Ammonia Impact using SCAIL - Ammonia Modelling Report - Flood Risk Assessment and Surface Water Management Plan - Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment -Transport Statement - A 15 minute video showing a lorry travelling the route from the A449 to the site 3. POLICY CONTEXT 3.1. The application site is within the Open Countryside and is within the 8km buffer zone for the Cannock Chase SAC and the impact risk zone for Mottey Meadows and Cannock Chase SAC, with both areas also designated nationally as SSSIs. The proposals are also within the impact risk zone for the Allimore Green SSSI. As a competent authority under the provisions of the Habitats Regulations the Council should have regard for any potential impacts that a plan or project may have on the relevant European site interest. Jeff Upton: Planning Consultant - Planning Committee 17/07/2018 Core Strategy Development Plan Document, December 2012: OC1 - Development in the Open Countryside beyond the West Midlands Green Belt EQ1 - Protecting, Enhancing and Expanding Natural Assets EQ2 - Cannock Chase Special Area of Conservation EQ4 - Protecting and Enhancing the Character and Appearance of the Landscape EQ5 - Sustainable Resources and Energy Efficiency EQ7 - Water Quality EQ9 - Protecting Residential Amenity EQ10 - Hazardous and Environmentally Sensitive Development EQ11 - Wider Design Considerations EQ12 - Landscaping EV8 - Agriculture EV12 - Parking Provision 3.1.2 National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), March 2012: Para 28: Supporting a Prosperous Rural Economy Para 32: Transport Statement and Assessment Para 56-68: Requiring Good Design Para 79-92: Protecting Green Belt Land Para 109-125: Conserving and Enhancing the Natural Environment 4. CONSULTATION RESPONSES Councillor Bates has called the application to Committee Dunston & Coppenhall Parish Council -Replies received: 11th January 2018 and 6th November 2017 In view of the concerns expressed by residents the Parish Council held a public meeting on 29th November 2017 to discuss the above application. The meeting was attended by approximately 75 residents. The concerns raised were as follows; 1; Transport access via School Lane from the A449. The road is narrow, has limited passing places and is frequently congested especially by St Leonards School and as such is considered unsuitable for frequent HGV movements. Proposed limited vehicle movements at school opening and closing times is not sufficient as the school often has functions during term time which generates extra traffic. If School Lane is congested any vehicles turning in from the A449 have difficulty in accessing the road and can block the A449 leading to potential hazards on a busy arterial highway. The traffic survey was conducted by the applicant's agent on a single unspecified day, which the meeting considered inadequate. The meeting considered that Highways should have conducted an independent survey covering several days and at different times of the day to obtain a complete picture of the usage of the roads. Jeff Upton: Planning Consultant - Planning Committee 17/07/2018 2; Storage of manure; possible issues about smell and insect infestation on neighbouring houses. Waste will need to be stored within closed buildings and monitored closely. 3; Runoff water drainage; will need careful managing to prevent flooding from in- creased water flow off hard standing and the additional buildings. 4; Bore Holes; neighbouring dwellings are not on mains water so rely on bore holes for their fresh water. The neighbours expressed concerns about contamination from liquid waste being discharged from the site. Conclusion; Items 2/3/4 are covered by various DEFRA and Environment regulations which should be covered if the application is approved by conditions applied and enforced. Item 1 is the main problem and the Parish Council agree with the residents that the proposed routing of HGV vehicles servicing this enterprise should not be via School Lane from the A449. As emphasised at the meeting the road is narrow, has few reasonable passing places, is frequently congested by the school and heavier traffic movements could cause accidents especially to children. There are 2 bridges along this stretch of road, one over a small stream and the other over the railway line which will need assessing to confirm that they will be able to support the weight of additional heavy vehicles. The Parish council also advised all those who attended the meeting to enter their comments onto the Planning Portal. The above application was sent to Acton Trussell parish council in error, we fortunately learnt of it via our District Councillor Len Bates. The application was discussed by the council who made the following comments; The council have no objections to the development in principle, but object strongly to the proposed access route via School Lane, Dunston. This would mean a large number of HGV vehicles servicing the turkey farm using a road which is narrow, has limited passing places and passes the village school and village hall. This road is often congested by parents at certain times of the day reducing carriageway width and the volume of HGV movements proposed would provide a significant danger to the children and other pedestrians. We propose that an alternative route from the A449 at Penkridge via Levedale Road to the farm would be safer and more acceptable to the residents of Dunston. With reference to the above application, the parish council would like the following note of explanation added to our comments sent previously. Please note that the comments originally made on 6th November 2017 were decided by the Parish Council at a scheduled Parish Council meeting on the 2 November 2017. The Council only heard about this application at this meeting when they were officially advised by the District Councillor. The notification from Planning had been sent in error to the wrong Parish Council. In view of this an Extraordinary meeting of the Parish Council has been arranged at 7.30 pm 29 November 2017 at Dunston Village Hall at which the residents will be able to put forward their views on this Jeff Upton: Planning Consultant - Planning Committee 17/07/2018 application and in light of these the Parish Council will be able to amend or review their comments. The Planning Department have now issued a notification to us which gives us until 1 December 2017 to submit comments. Mr Jeremy Lefroy MP -Updated Reply received: 29th January 2018 Further to my letter of 31st December 2017, in which I forwarded matters raised by my constituents and raised concerns over the scale of the development, I have now visited the site of the proposed farm.