Agenda Item No. 5b Committee: Regulatory Planning Committee Date: 11 June 2008 Report by: Director of Transport and Environment Proposal: Development and operation of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment storage and processing and a combined Materials Recycling Facility and Waste Transfer Station. Site Address: Greystone Quarry, Southerham, Lewes. Applicant: MDJ Light Brothers (SP) Ltd Application No. LW/489/CM(EIA) Key Issues: (i) Management of waste and need for proposal (ii) Effect on AONB (iii) Effect of traffic on public highway (iv) Effect on amenity (v) Effect on SSSI and ecology (vi) Drainage SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS 1. Subject to the completion of a Section 106 legal agreement for works to the public highway, the submission of a Travel Plan and remediation works to the cliff face at the south-western side of the upper quarry the Committee is recommended to authorise the Director of Transport and Environment to grant planning permission subject to conditions as set out in paragraph 8.1 of the report. CONSIDERATION BY DIRECTOR OF TRANSPORT AND ENVIRONMENT 1. The Site and Surroundings 1.1 The application site is just over 4 hectares in area and comprises the worked out lower quarry of Greystone Quarry, Southerham, on the south- eastern side of Lewes, known as Machine Bottom Pit. It is shaped as a westward curving triangle which is adjacent to the eastern side of the operational land associated with the existing waste transfer station (WTS) in the upper quarry. The application site also includes a linear area of land contiguous with the northern boundary of the upper quarry, delineating a former access route. The application site is currently used for waste management purposes, specifically refrigerator and freezer storage and processing and various structures are present, including buildings, although the temporary planning permission relating to this development has now expired. 1.2 The application site is screened from public viewpoints in the vicinity of the quarry, primarily because of the existing high cliff faces. Trees along the south-western boundary of the lower quarry and to a lesser extent, the northern and eastern boundaries, provide additional screening. Beyond the northern and eastern boundaries of the quarry, the land rises towards the downland areas of Machine Bottom and Round the Down, respectively. To the west, the WTS is located at a higher level than the application site and provides screening to the latter from this direction, although some of the vegetation along the south-western boundary has been undermined through other development at the site. 1.3 Access to the application site would be either through the WTS in the upper quarry or along its northern boundary, via the slip road leading from the A27 a short distance to the west of the upper quarry, or from the minor road leading from the A26 through Cliffe Industrial Estate and Southerham, to the north-west. Residential properties are situated to the north-west of the site along this minor road within the hamlet of Southerham and a transit traveller’s site is located on elevated land adjacent to the southern boundary of the site. 1.4 The application site incorporates a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), known as Southerham Machine Bottom Pit SSSI, which comprises the south-western, eastern and northern faces of the lower quarry, although the SSSI extends along the south-western side into the upper quarry. The site is also within the Sussex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and lies on a Major Aquifer. The Lewes Downs, incorporating Malling Down, Mount Caburn and Southerham Farm, is a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and is located, at its nearest point, about 500 metres to the east of the site. The River Ouse flows about 560 metres to the west of the site. 2. Site History 2.1 Given the strategic importance of the site in waste management terms, and the nature of both the current and previous proposals at the site, it would be appropriate to look at the history of Greystone Quarry in some detail. 2.2 There is no formal planning permission for the use of the upper quarry as a waste transfer station or scrapyard. These activities have been operating for many years and are considered lawful. Notwithstanding this, both the lower and upper quarries have been subject to various planning proposals over the last few years and have benefited from several permissions, largely of a temporary nature. 2.3 LW/352/CM: Temporary storage of refrigerators in lower quarry. Temporary permission granted on 18 March 2002, to expire on 13 March 2003 with restoration required by 13 April 2003. 2.4 LW/360/CM: Operation of mobile plant for processing of waste refrigerators including construction of hardstanding and ancillary vehicle parking in lower quarry. Temporary permission granted on 23 July 2002, to expire on 13 March 2003 with restoration required by 13 April 2003. 2.5 LW/366/CM: Variation of condition 1 of consent LW/352/CM for the temporary storage of refrigerators in lower quarry. Temporary permission granted on 15 November 2002, expired on 13 March 2008 with restoration required by 13 April 2008. 2.6 LW/367/CM: Variation of condition 1 of consent LW/360/CM for the temporary operation of mobile plant for processing of waste refrigerators including retention of hardstanding and ancillary vehicle parking in lower quarry. Temporary permission granted on 15 November 2002, expired on 13 March 2008 with restoration required by 13 April 2008. 2.7 LW/379/CM: Surfacing of hardstanding; improvements to drainage arrangements; erection of steel framed shelter; siting of mess/office and toilet facilities; and operation of Step II mobile refrigerator processing plant in lower quarry. Temporary permission granted on 19 August 2003, expired on 13 March 2008 with restoration required by 13 April 2008. Currently, there is no permission for waste activities in the lower quarry. An application has been received to regularise the activities which have expired, although it is invalid and I am awaiting a response from the applicant as to how he wishes to proceed. 2.8 LW/393/CM: Construction of two sheds in upper quarry. Permission granted on 19 February 2004. Two sheds have been constructed, although not in accordance with the permission and these buildings are now the subject of an application seeking retrospective planning permission (ref LW/532/CM), which is considered at Agenda Item 5C. 2.9 LW/420/CM: Erection of new offices in upper quarry. Permission granted on 7 January 2005. 2.10 Both the upper and lower quarries have been subject to unauthorised development. The applicant is seeking to regularise some of this development in the lower quarry through the submission of the current application. In the upper quarry, applications LW/532/CM (retrospective planning permission for the construction of two sheds) and LW/546/CM (retrospective planning permission for the installation of an electricity sub-station, the re-engineering of a section of quarry face, construction of waste storage bays and the change of use of land to waste management activity), have been submitted to regularise development. Outstanding enforcement issues will either be resolved through the determination of these planning applications or through other means. 2.11 There are linkages between Greystone Quarry and the nearby Cliffe Industrial Estate where the management of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) takes place and Unit 18 is used for the storage, transfer and recycling of this waste, specifically televisions and computer monitors (reference LW/511/CM). 3. The Proposal 3.1 The proposed development would involve the construction of two large industrial, steel-clad, pitched roof buildings in the lower quarry. One building would comprise a facility to store and treat WEEE at the western side of the application site and would be 50 metres in length. The other would be for a combined Materials Recovery (MRF) and Waste Transfer Station (WTS) at the south-eastern part of the application site, which would be 90 metres in length. Both buildings would be 30 metres wide, 10 metres high to the eaves and 12.5 metres high to the pitch. 3.2 The WEEE storage and treatment facility would act as an acceptance, holding and processing area and would enable the applicant to direct all incoming WEEE into one facility, as the current storage of WEEE within the upper quarry would be relocated to the new facility. Incoming waste would be stored within designated areas within the building and some manual dismantling is likely to take place, as well as automated processing, so that components can be more easily separated and then transferred for onward processing. Various categories of electrical and electronic equipment waste would be accepted, from washing machines and toasters, to medical equipment. The WEEE would be delivered in vans and vehicles of less than 7.5 tonnes gross vehicle weight, which would be sorted and separated on site, with the recoverable and disposable parts being removed. Wherever possible, back hauling of vehicles would be used. 3.3 The development of the MRF/WTS would require the construction of an enclosed building for the sorting of recyclables and the bulking and baling of household waste. It would receive kerbside collected waste on behalf of local authorities, involving paper, card, plastics, glass and cans, as well as non- recyclable household waste. The MRF would be designed to receive mixed dry recyclables and would include the necessary processing plant and equipment to separate the waste streams, including a picking station. It is proposed that the WTS would receive residual household waste collected by or on behalf of local authorities, as well as commercial waste, and after bulking up, would be collected by articulated lorries for delivery to a disposal facility.