D DEVELOPMENT CONTROL AND REGULATORY BOARD 19 TH AUGUST 2010 REPORT OF THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE COUNTY MATTER PART A – SUMMARY REPORT APP.NO. & DATE: 2010/0484/01 (2010/C310/01) – 22 nd June 2010 PROPOSAL: Application to vary condition no.3 of permission ref. 2008/0653/01 (hours of operation) from 08:00 – 17:30 to 07:00 – 18:00 Monday to Friday and open on Public/Bank Holidays LOCATION: Manor Farm, Sharnford Road, Aston Flamville (Blaby District) APPLICANT: J & F Powner MAIN ISSUES: Vehicle movements and traffic impact. Impact upon local amenity RECOMMENDATION: Permit the extension of hours for delivery of compostable waste from 08.00 – 17.30 hours Monday to Friday to 07.00 – 18.00 hours Monday to Friday, subject to the amended condition as set out in the appendix to the main report, but do not permit the extension on the limits to deliveries of compostable waste to include Public/Bank Holidays. Circulation Under Local Issues Alert Procedure Mr. E. F. White CC Officer to Contact Dan Szymanski (0116 3057050) Email: [email protected] 2 2010/0484/01 (2010/C310/01) - continued PART B – MAIN REPORT Background 1. In March 2003 planning permission was granted for the development of a composting facility at Manor Farm, Aston Flamville. The permission was subject to 17 conditions and a section 106 agreement to control the routeing of vehicles to and from the site. In March 2006 permission was granted to vary condition 3 of the above permission (ref. 2006/0068/01) to include cardboard within the types of waste permitted to be composted at the site. 2. In April 2007 the Board approved a request from the applicant to vary condition nos. 4 (to increase vehicle movements from 60 to 100 per week) and 12 (to allow the site to open an hour earlier i.e. 07.00 hours) and a request to vary the vehicle routeing agreement (ref. 2006/1027/01). The amendment to the legal agreement sought to allow vehicles to enter the site from both Hinckley Road and Sharnford Road, as opposed to Sharnford Road only. 3. In November 2008 the Board resolved to approve application ref. no. 2008/0653/01 for the relocation and extension of the site from the east to the west of Bridleway V34. This was approved subject to 21 conditions and a new routeing agreement specific to that planning permission. Subsequently in September 2009 the Board also approved an application to change the use of an existing farm shed on the site for the storage and bailing of plastics (ref. no. 2009/0487/01). Location of Proposed Development 4. The existing composting operations are made up of a number of elements located in close proximity to each other within, and adjacent to, the complex of farm buildings. The farm buildings lie approximately 350m east of the village and 150m east of the Aston Flamville Conservation Area, screened by a small wooded area and a mature hedge. The operational composting area is provided in the form of a clay pad measuring approximately 90m x 40m, located on a field adjoining Public Bridleway No. V34 (on its eastern side). The pad is bounded by a clay bund approximately 0.5m high. As part of an earlier planning permission (ref. 2002/0747/01), the applicant provided a 3m wide grass verge adjacent to the bridleway to allow horse riders to seek refuge when vehicles are using the track. 5. The most recent permission (ref. 2008/0653/01) granted permission for the replacement pad measuring 115m x 50m on the north western side of the bridleway, on the same side as the farm complex and buildings. That pad would be surfaced in concrete and enclosed by a 3m high bund created using the stripped top soils. It would compost up to 25,000 tonnes of material per year. The new waste reception area will be located on land to the south of the pad within the existing farm yard. The office, parking and weighbridge area will be located as existing, to the south within the farm building area. DC&REG. BOARD 19/08/2010 3 2010/0484/01 (2010/C310/01) - continued DC&REG. BOARD 19/08/2010 4 2010/0484/01 (2010/C310/01) - continued Description of Proposal 6. Planning permission ref. 2008/0653/03 was granted in April 2009 for the construction of a new composting pad at the existing facility at Manor Farm. The new pad is nearly complete and operations are to be moved from the original site to the new pad; the original composting area will no longer be needed. Condition no.3 of the planning permission limits the timing of deliveries to the new site such that ‘no deliveries of compostable materials, or shredding or handling of such materials shall take place except between the hours of 08:00 and 17:30 Monday to Friday, 08:00 and 15:00 on Saturdays and no deliveries shall take place on Sundays or Public/Bank Holidays’ 7. The planning application subject of this report seeks a variation of condition no.3 of planning permission ref. 2008/0653/03 to amend the limits to the timing of deliveries to the site such that ‘deliveries of compostable materials by municipal authorities shall take place between the hours of 07:00 to 18:00 Monday to Friday and on Public/Bank Holidays’. 8. The proposed change in the timing of deliveries to the site is sought to provide greater flexibility to Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council in its household green waste collection. During spring of this year a number of problems arose regarding the amount of material collected during April as the gardening season began earlier than anticipated. As a result kerb side bins were occasionally still being collected into the evening. On one occasion a truck did not complete all collections until 21:30 and on a number of other occasions collection trucks were not arriving on site until 17:30 with tipping only permitted to take place until 18:00, leading to a backlog of trucks building up on the site. In order to prevent the backlogs impacting upon the collection schedule for the following days, site operators have resorted to allowing some trucks to tip in the morning at 7am (outside of permitted hours) to prevent a ‘knock-on’ effect occurring. The applicant states that this situation occurred on four collection days in April 2010. 9. The applicant also states that such flexibility in hours is required to facilitate the increase in participation rates in green waste recycling together with a significant increase in the number of houses built within the Borough. The resulting greater volume of green waste being collected will impact upon the timing of collections and the operation of collections rounds as a whole within the Borough. It is anticipated that there would only be 6 loads per week when collection vehicles would require access before 08:00 and after 17:30 hours, with shunter trucks deployed at peak times to help with the volume. 10. The principal justification to extend the delivery periods to include Public/Bank holidays is linked to the fact that from 17 th January 2010 Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council has switched from a 4 day a week collection service to a 5 days a week service with 3 collection crews for green waste (4 in peak summer season). As such, this will result in collections on Public or Bank Holidays and therefore the applicant seeks the ability to accept deliveries of collected material to the site on these days. At present green waste has to be transported further afield to green waste sites in Blaby District that are open to deliveries on Bank/Public Holidays such as Soars Lodge Farm, Broughton Astley (08 00 – 16 00 hours). DC&REG. BOARD 19/08/2010 5 2010/0484/01 (2010/C310/01) - continued 11. The site also currently takes green waste deliveries from the County Council’s Barwell household waste recycling site. At present if the green waste bin at this site is filled on a Bank/Public holiday and needs to be taken off site, it has to be transported to a composting site in the east of the county near Market Harborough. It is stated that the ability to accept deliveries of green waste on Public/Bank holidays at the Manor Farm site would facilitate much shorter journeys than with existing arrangements. 12. It is proposed that during the extended hours of operation waste would be delivered on the shortest possible route to the site, lessening the impact of the vehicle movements on any one area and only affecting residential areas close to the collection round during such activities. 13. The proposed changes to the hours specified within condition no. 3 relate only to the delivery of waste; all other operations connected with the site would continue to be carried out within the previously consented hours. Planning Policy National Policy 14. National guidance on the development of land for waste management facilities is contained in PPS10 (Planning for Sustainable Waste Management) . The overall objective of Government policy is to protect human health and the environment by producing less waste and by using it as a resource wherever possible. Through more sustainable waste management, moving the management of waste up the ‘waste hierarchy’ and only disposing as a last resort, the Government aims to break the link between economic growth and the environmental impact of waste. 15. At paragraph 22 PPS10 explains that development plans form the framework within which decisions on proposals for development are taken.