Local Member Mrs. J. Jessel East Staffordshire – Needwood and Mrs. J. M. Eagland Lichfield – Rural North Scheme of Delegation to Officers Minerals County Matter / Waste County Matter Application No (District): L.19/03/817 MW (Lichfield District) Applicant: Tarmac Aggregates Limited Description: Application to vary (not comply with) Conditions 11 (the quantity of exported sand and gravel), 12 (the quantity of imported inert restoration material), 24 (the operating hours) and 38 (the number of HGV movements) of planning permission L.14/03/817 MW at Alrewas Quarry, Croxall Road, Alrewas. Background Tarmac Aggregates Limited is the operator of Alrewas Quarry. Mineral extraction has been carried out in this general area for many years. Alrewas Quarry began in the 1970’s and the Whitemoor Haye Extension was permitted in 2005. Operations in the extraction areas and plant site are currently regulated via a planning permission granted in May 2017 (reference L.14/03/817 MW) for a southern extension to Alrewas Quarry with restoration to agriculture, amenity and nature conservation by importation of restoration materials. Operations are spread across five phases over a 107-hectare area with a consented reserve of 4.4 million tonnes scheduled to be worked over a 12-year period. Mineral extraction operations are currently in Phase 3, to the south of Roddidge Lane. From here the mineral is transported over Roddidge Lane using dumper trucks to a feed hopper situated north of the same, from which the mineral is then transported to the plant site in the north of the site by conveyor. The application mainly relates to the processing plant site situated to the north of Croxall Old Road and to the west of the National Memorial Arboretum. Site and Surroundings Alrewas Quarry is located to the south-east of Alrewas village and is divided by the A513. The current operational extraction area is located to the south of the A513 and west of Barley Green Lane. To the north of the A513 land consists of previously worked areas in the process of final restoration and agricultural land yet to be 1 worked, part of which is currently used as a temporary second carpark for the National Memorial Arboretum. Further north of Croxall Old Road are silt lagoons associated with previous mineral extraction and a mineral processing plant site area with ancillary facilities such as weighbridge and site offices and plant and equipment associated with the processing/manufacture of added value products, including ready mixed concrete; and, an aggregates bagging plant. The processing plant site area has direct access from Croxall Old Road and the potentially sensitive land uses in proximity are The National Memorial Arboretum, immediately to the east of the plant site, and the Whitemoor Haye Lakes ‘Activity Centre’ to the south east. The nearest residential premise is Homestead Farm, some 400m west of the plant site, separated from the site by the ‘Birmingham to Derby’ branch active railway line. The A38 Strategic Road Network (Lichfield to Burton upon Trent dual carriageway section) is also located further to the west. The National Memorial Arboretum is the UK Centre of Remembrance and covers an area of 60 hectares and includes the Millennium Chapel of Peace and Forgiveness, the Armed Forces Memorial and Basra Memorial Wall, a visitor centre and education centre. Summary of the Proposals Variations to the current conditions L.14/03/817 MW are sought as Tarmac have secured a proportion of the supply of Ready Mixed Concrete (RMX) to the HS2 project. The quantity of exported sand and gravel (Condition 11) Based on the anticipated requirement for aggregates demand to RMC plants, Tarmac are seeking to increase output from the site from 400,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) to 600,000 tpa and then once contracts are let for the HS2 Project to increase output to 750,000 tpa. The quantity of imported inert restoration material (Condition 12) To ensure that progress of restoration maintains pace with rates of extraction, Tarmac are also seeking to increase the import of inert waste from 200,000 tpa to 250,000 tpa. The operating hours (Condition 24) Increased hours of operation from 11 hours per day to 16 hours per day to cover both the processing plant and associated vehicle movements are also sought. This would be an increase in operating hours from the currently approved 7:00 am – 6:00 pm hours to 6:00 am - 10:00 pm hours Monday to Friday. Also, an increase from the currently approved 7:00 am – 1:00 pm hours to 6:00 am - 4:00 pm Saturdays. The applicant states the reasons for increased operating hours for HGV movements are two-fold; firstly, the site does not have sufficient stocking capacity for the additional volume of processed mineral; and secondly the 'take- off' requirements for the HS2 project. To confirm, the submitted noise impact assessment took account of HGV movements across the full working hours. 2 Also, to confirm the mineral extraction operations would continue to be undertaken within the currently consented hours. The number of HGV/HCV movements (Condition 38) To accommodate the above increased HGV movements are required to achieve the maximum proposed output of 750,000 tpa. Mineral extraction HGV vehicle movements are proposed to be increased per full working day from 162 (81 in and 81 out) to 302 (151 in and 151 out). This equates to 19 movements per hour over a 16-hour working day. Inert restoration material HGV movements are proposed to be increased per full working day from 146 (73 in and 73 out) to 182 (91 in and 91 out). The Transport Assessment submitted with the application comments that the permitted hourly HGV activity is currently 28 movements per hour (14 in and 14 out) in relation to the 308 daily HGV movements per full 11 hour working day 7am – 6pm (Condition 38 of permission L.14/03/817 MW). Whilst the application does not propose to import outside of the normal business hours, however hourly HGV activity proposed by the application is rounded to 20 movements per hour (10 in and 10 out) in relation to the proposed 302 daily movements associated with the export of mineral spread evenly over 16 hours 6am – 10pm. The application is accompanied by an Environmental Statement including Mineral Development Statement and Planning Statement. A noise report and transport assessment are appendices to the Environment Statement. A supplementary noise assessment of noise impact has also been submitted as an addendum to the Environmental Statement following the guidance presented within BS4142:2014 guidance and additional information on traffic and hours of movements have also been provided to clarify matters and address consultation responses. Applicant’s Case The applicant states that historically the site has operated at up to 600,000 tpa (Whitemoor Haye Quarry permission (ref. L.950534 dated 4 March 1997), but in more recent years has been limited to around 450,000 tpa, a function of market conditions and increased levels of downtime for maintenance. Due to the aggregate quality, Alrewas will be a key source of aggregates to the HS2 project and Tarmac are therefore seeking to increase output from the site to 750,000 tpa. The exceptional circumstances provided in the application for the proposed increased hours of operation of the site’s processing plant and HGV movements is to supply HS2 (Stream 1) and supply normal market demand (Stream 2). As the Alrewas aggregate will all be going in to the concrete plants, demand for aggregate supplies will run across the full operating window of 06.00-22.00 hours Monday to Friday and 06.00 - 16.00 Saturday. This increased demand will result in a quicker depletion of mineral reserve at Alrewas Quarry, which is proposed to be offset by a further extension to the south. [Note: A planning application has recently been submitted for a southern extension but it has not yet been determined (ref. L.19/09/817 MW)] The proposals will not: 3 • increase the extent of the current site; • seek to change the approved schemes of working and restoration; • bring the wider site any closer to residential development and/or any other sensitive forms of development; • change the approved points of access; • change the noise limits articulated under current planning conditions; and, • change any of the processes undertaken on the wider site In response to queries raised by statutory consultees the applicant has commented in respect of HS2 Code of Construction Practice and Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) movements and traffic concerns raised by Parish Councils. Link to HS2: Aggregate from Alrewas would be supplied to concrete plants within HS2 yards at Coleshill, Park Lane and Stoneleigh Park, together with the Tarmac holding yard at Washwood Heath. All vehicles associated with the supply of material to HS2 would leave site and head towards the A38 junction before heading south along the A38. With regards to the HS2 Code of Construction Practice, the applicant states whilst the proposed operating hours exceed the HS2 core working hours, there are however identified operations that would need to operate outside of the core hours for reasons of engineering practicality including major concrete pours. Therefore, material from the concrete plants and aggregate supplies would be required outside of the HS2 core operating hours. Core working hours for HS2 are defined as 08.00 - 18.00 Monday to Friday and 08.00 - 13.00 Saturday. The applicant states though that the HS2 policy does however allow for an additional 1 hour start up and close down period which specifically allows for deliveries, which means that the core delivery times in to the compounds would be within the already permitted operational hours for Alrewas Quarry i.e.