41 Agenda Item 10 DEVELOPMENT CONTROL AND REGULATORY BOARD 24 TH OCTOBER 2013 REPORT OF THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE COUNTY MATTER PART A – SUMMARY REPORT APP.NO. & DATE: 2013/0809/03 (2013/CM/0120/LCC) – 13 th May 2013 PROPOSAL: Application for the extension to the existing enclosed composting facility. LOCATION: Gibbet Lane, Shawell (Harborough District) APPLICANT: New Earth Solutions Ltd. MAIN ISSUES: Impact of the proposal upon the amenity of nearby properties, visual impact, impact upon the highway, and the appropriateness of the increased throughput of this operation within the countryside and at this specific location. RECOMMENDATION: REFUSE on grounds of: (i) the failure of the site against the locational policies of the Waste Core Strategy which seeks to locate new waste developments within or around the main urban areas. Circulation Under the Local Issues Alert Procedure Mr. G. A. Hart CC. Officer to Contact Mr. P. Larter (Tel. 0116 305 7292) Email: [email protected] 42 2013/0809/03 (2013/CM/0120/LCC - continued PART B – MAIN REPORT Site Location and Planning History 1. The Shawell/Cotesbach quarry and landfill site is located north west of the village of Shawell and south of the village of Cotesbach, near Lutterworth. The mineral extraction and landfill area is located north of Gibbet Lane, a road which links Shawell with the A5/A426 junction to the west of the site. The associated minerals processing plant, a number of silt settlement lagoons, a roof tile works and the site of a (now disused) concrete block works are located to the south of the road. Mineral is transported from the extraction area to the processing plant by means of a conveyor which crosses under Gibbet Lane. An inert waste recovery and recycling facility is also situated south of Gibbet Lane. The nearest designated ecological site at a national level to the site is the Cave’s Inn Pits SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) approximately one kilometre south of the current facility 2. In September 2008, planning permission was granted under reference 2008/0789/03 for what was described as a fully enclosed composting facility for the processing of up to 50,000 tonnes of waste per annum, and ancillary development (which is in effect a MBT (Mechanical Biological Treatment) facility). The facility is operated by New Earth Solutions Limited (NES) and, principally, receives household waste from kerbside collections in Leicestershire which is subjected to mechanical and biological treatment. The facility commenced operations on 1 st October 2010. 3. More recently, permission was sought under references (2012/0972/03 and 2012/CSub/0208/LCC) for an increase to the throughput of the facility from 50,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) to 60,000tpa and a commensurate increase to the HGV movements in and out of the site from 240 to 300 a week. The increase to the HGV movements was granted but the increase to the throughput was refused on the ground that the operation of the existing MBT facility gives rise to an unacceptable adverse effect by reason of odour as evidenced by a significant number of odour complaints from residents in Shawell village. 4. The nearest residential properties to the MBT facility are Holme Close Farm and Littledene, about 400 metres east-southeast. Other properties in Shawell are located about 150 metres further to the east and south-east, at distances between 550 and 850 metres from the site boundary. A property known as Greenacres, on Gibbet Lane near the A5/A426 roundabout, is located about 700 metres west of the site. Two semi-detached properties, Keepers Cottage and West Cottage, are situated adjacent to the northern quarry boundary, 950 metres north-east of the MBT facility. The village of Cotesbach lies about 1.3 kilometres to the north, beyond the quarry and landfill operation. DC&REG. BOARD 24/10/2013 43 2013/0809/03 (2013/CM/0120/LCC - continued DC&REG. BOARD 24/10/2013 44 2013/0809/03 (2013/CM/0120/LCC - continued 5. A number of Public Rights of Way are located near the MBT facility. The original route of Footpath X26 traverses the consented mineral extraction/landfill area from Cotesbach to the north of the quarry to Gibbet Lane in the south. This footpath is currently the subject of a temporary diversion for the duration of quarrying and landfill operations. The original route of Footpath X26 is to be reinstated following the final restoration of the site. Bridleway X27 also links the unnamed lane to the north of the quarry with Gibbet Lane in the south. The route of this bridleway has been diverted temporarily along the western edge of the quarry and will also be reinstated following site reclamation. Footpath X24 connects Shawell with Gibbet Lane by crossing agricultural land and an area of former quarry workings to the east of the processing plant before linking with Gibbet Lane to the south of the MBT facility. Existing Facility 6. On arrival at the facility, bags of waste are split open and subjected to a visual inspection. The waste then travels on a conveyor where bio-fines are screened out, followed by density separation, magnetic extraction, eddy current separation and infrared sorting. Any recyclables which are recovered from the waste stream (such as ferrous and non-ferrous metals, plastics etc.) are baled and wrapped and taken off site for recycling. 7. The majority of the material not suitable for recycling or composting is turned into a RDF (Refuse Derived Fuel). Whilst the bio-fines are taken into the adjacent composting halls and formed into windrows which are turned regularly to form a Compost Like Output (CLO). 8. The outputs from the site are: recyclables that are taken off-site for recycling; the CLO which is used at sites other than the adjacent landfill; the RDF to the Netherlands; and residues and reject materials to the adjacent Cotesbach Landfill. Description of proposal 9. The proposal is to extend the existing operations but not to amend the nature of the outputs. The application contains an environmental statement which covers the topics of transport, and air quality. Other information on the proposal is contained in further statements included with the planning application. 10. The proposed extension of the waste management operations is fourfold: 1. an increase of the hours of operation from 07:00 – 17:00 to 07:00 – 19:00 Monday – Friday (to include all bank holidays which is currently prohibited). Operations on Saturdays would remain the same; 2. an increase in HGV movements from 300 a week to 400 a week; 3. an increase in the throughput of the site from 50,000tpa to 75,000tpa; and 4. an extension to the existing buildings on the site. DC&REG. BOARD 24/10/2013 45 2013/0809/03 (2013/CM/0120/LCC - continued 11. The proposed physical development is the erection of two enclosures, one between the composting hall and the screening building and one between the composting hall and the waste reception/sorting building. The two enclosures would collectively cover some 2500m 2. The southern of the two enclosures would be at a height lower than the existing building to which it would adjoin where as the northernmost would be a further 1.2 metres higher (at its peak) than the existing buildings. It is proposed that the enclosures would be clad in dark green (RAL6003) pressed steel cladding. Access doors to the enclosures would also be dark green. 12. The application states that the purpose of the enclosures is to mitigate the increased risk of fugitive odour emissions that would arise from the increased throughput. An increase in throughput would result in a need to transfer waste materials between the buildings more frequently. In effect, the enclosures would fully cover the transfer of waste between the buildings. There would also be a decrease in the number of large external doors for vehicular access from 23 to 12. Those large external doors to the enclosures would be rapid rise reducing the time they are open when they need to be. 13. Other physical changes to the current development contained within the application are an increase in the car parking provision within the site and additional landscaping to the south. It is envisaged by the applicant that an additional three full time permanent jobs would be created by the proposal. Traffic 14. The transport statement assesses the impact of the additional HGV movements associated with the proposed development. The additional movements required to facilitate a throughput of 75,000tpa would be 369 but 400 HGV movements a week is used for assessing the impacts. It is estimated that the proposal will generate a further 2 HGV movements an hour, assuming a 67 hour week. A junction capacity assessment undertaken at the A5/A426 roundabout showed that the development would have a negligible effect on the overall operation of the junction. However, it did highlight that the A426 ‘arm’ from the south of the roundabout already exhibits traffic levels above the working capacity which leads to traffic flows becoming unstable and queues developing in the PM peak, between 16:30 and 18:30. Traffic Noise and Exhaust Emissions 15. An assessment of the noise levels attributable from HGV movements along Gibbet Lane to residential properties on Gibbet Lane concluded that the changes from this proposal would be negligible. The report on particulate matter (PM 10 ) particulates and nitrogen dioxide from HGVs to the residential properties on Gibbet Lane shows that with the proposed increase in HGV movements levels are predicted to be below national air quality objectives. DC&REG. BOARD 24/10/2013 46 2013/0809/03 (2013/CM/0120/LCC - continued Air Quality 16.