Agenda Item No: 7a DEVELOPMENT CONTROL COMMITTEE 20 JANUARY 2012 REPORT BY ASSISTANT DIRECTOR ENVIRONMENT AND PLANNING Subject: Two applications at Westwood Anaerobic Digestion (AD) Plant, Bedford Road, Rushden, NN10 0SQ 11/00073/WAS - variation of condition 5 of planning permission 08/00002/WAS to allow public and bank holiday working 11/00078/WAS - variation of condition 2 of planning permission 08/00002/WAS to replace 4,000 tonnes per annum allocation for energy crops with food chain waste and increase the annual throughputs from 45,000 to 49,000 tonnes per annum and to allow digestate to be applied to farmland up to 5 miles from the plant Applicant: Biogen (UK) Ltd Recommendations: That the applications be approved subject to the conditions in Appendix A to this report. 1. Purpose of Report 1.1 The purpose of this report is to provide the Committee with professional planning advice on any issues, Development Plan Policies and other material considerations relevant to the determination of a planning application. 2. Relevant Priority Outcomes The content of this report supports the delivery of the following corporate outcomes: Perspective Outcome Customers - to achieve our A cleaner, greener and more prosperous county vision, what will our customers see? 3. Background 3.1 The applicant was granted planning permission 08/00002/WAS for the construction of an anaerobic digestion (AD) plant in May 2008. The consent was granted for the operation of an AD facility with a condition limiting the annual waste throughput to 45,000 tonnes per annum (tpa). The condition also stated that the spreading of the digestate produced by the AD process should be limited to the site‟s host agricultural unit. 3.2 Planning permission 08/00002/WAS also imposed the following restrictions on the site‟s hours of operation: Monday – Friday 07:00 – 19:00 Saturday 07:00 – 13:00 No operations on Sundays, Public or Bank Holidays 3.3 The site was commissioned in June 2009 and the throughputs of waste have steadily increased to the maximum permitted. Site Description 3.4 The site is located within a rural area in the district of East Northamptonshire and adjacent to the county boundary with Bedfordshire and the Borough of Bedford with access from the A6 Bedford Road. The nearest town is Rushden, approximately 4 km to the north-west of the site, with the larger settlements of Kettering lying 18 km to the north- west, Bedford a similar distance the south-east and Northampton 25 km to the west. 3.5 Locally, the nearest residential properties are located on the A6 Bedford Road approximately 600 metres to the west of the site. The closest settlements are: Knotting approximately 1km to the east; Newton Bromswold 2.5 km to the north; Higham Park (including The Avenue residences) 1.5 km to the north-west; and Souldrop 1.2 km to the south. The character of the immediate area typically comprises dispersed farms, smallholdings and large detached dwellings set at intervals, including along the A6 Bedford Road. West Wood, an area of woodland from which the proposed plant takes its name, is located directly to the south of the application site. 4. Proposal 4.1 Both applications seek to vary conditions on existing planning permission 08/00002/WAS which allowed the construction of a 45,000 tonnes per annum anaerobic digestion (AD) facility. Application reference 11/00073/WAS seeks to modify condition 5 to enable the site to accept waste on Bank and Public Holidays between the hours of 7.00am and 4.00pm. The current condition states: 5. Except as may otherwise be agreed in writing by the Waste Planning Authority the operations involving the importation of waste, removal of non-compostable waste and outside movement of wastes on site hereby permitted, shall be restricted to between the hours of 07.00 and 19.00 on Mondays to Fridays and 07.00 to 13.00 on Saturdays, with no operations on Sundays, Public, Statutory or Bank Holidays. 4.2 Application reference 11/00078/WAS is for the modification of two elements of condition 2. The first to remove the 4,000 tonnes per annum allocation for energy crops and allow an increase in annual throughputs from 45,000 to 49,000 tonnes per annum. The second to allow the digestate created by the AD process to be spread on land up to 5 miles from the site. The current condition states: 2. the development hereby permitted, shall not exceed a total annual throughput of 45,000 tonnes per annum, waste materials to be processed shall not exceed 41,000 tonnes per annum and digestate application shall be limited to the sites host agricultural unit. 5. Consultation 5.1 The following is a summary of the consultation responses in relation to these proposals: East Northamptonshire Council – Planning 5.2 11/00073/WAS – No objection raised. 11/00078/WAS – Object to the application due to the extent of odour impacts resulting from a five mile radius for spreading digestate and the cumulative effect of this spreading with the neighbouring Chelveston AD plant. They also seek clarity on how the digestate will be transported over the wider area. East Northamptonshire Council – Environmental Health 5.3 11/00073/WAS - No objection raised. 11/00078/WAS – Concerns raised regarding odour and the cumulative impact of the extended digestate spreading area in conjunction with the AD facility at Chelveston Renewable Energy Park. Bedford Borough Council 5.4 No objection raised to either application. Central Bedfordshire Council 5.5 No objection raised to either application. Environment Agency 5.6 No objection raised to either application. Rushden Town Council 5.7 No objections raised to either application, but feel the traffic figures provided are not accurate and require further assessment. Wymington Parish Council 5.8 11/00073/WAS - No objection raised. 11/00078/WAS – The parish council does not object but raises concerns regarding odour and the impacts of the digestate spreading on local amenity. Chelveston-cum-Caldecott Parish Council 5.9 11/00073/WAS - No objection raised. 11/00078/WAS - Objections raised to the increase in spreading area for digestate due to the impacts of increased odour nuisance. Melchbourne and Yeldon Parish Council 5.10 No comments received to date but a parish council meeting is to be held on the 18th January2012. An oral update will be provided. Newton Bromswold Parish Meeting 5.11 Objection raised due to the site‟s non-compliance with planning conditions regarding landscaping, lighting, spreading of digestate and odour. Podington Parish Council 5.12 No objection raised but feel spread digestate should be ploughed in with 24 hours. Natural England 5.13 No objection raised to either application. Highways Agency 5.14 No objection raised to either application. Health Protection Agency 5.15 11/00073/WAS – No objection raised. 11/00078/WAS – No response received. NCC Highways 5.16 11/00073/WAS – No objection raised. 11/00078/WAS – Further information required to assess the potential traffic impacts of the additional vehicle movements created by the proposal. However, satisfied with additional information submitted and raises no objection. Preserve 5.17 11/00073/WAS – No response received. 11/00078/WAS – Concerns raised regarding odour and the potential cumulative impacts with the Chelveston AD plant. Would like assurances that the conditions of planning permission 08/00002/WAS are being adequately monitored and complaints have been dealt with. Councillor G Harwood (ENC – Higham Ferrers Lancaster) 5.18 11/00073/WAS – Raised no objection subject to the retention of the 30 mile waste catchment area. 11/00078/WAS – Concerns raised regarding the potential for further odour nuisance following an incident in March 2011. Councillor D McMurdo (BBC – Sharnbrook) 5.19 Raised concerns regarding odour due to previous issues from the site. Councillor M Tye (NCC – Rushden South) 5.20 11/00073/WAS - No objection raised. 11/00078/WAS – No further comments received. Councillor P Whiting (ENC – Higham Ferrers Lancaster) 5.21 11/00073/WAS – No objection raised. 11/00078/WAS – No further comments received. 5.22 Consultations were also sent to the following but no responses received: Wildlife Trust, CPRE, The Ramblers Association, Knotting and Souldrop Parish Council. 5.23 Letters of notifications of the applications were also sent to Councillor A Foster (BBC – Harrold), Councillor D Lawson (NCC – Higham Ferrers), Councillor S Homer (ENC – Rushden Bates), Councillor R Underwood (ENC – Rushden Bates). No comments were received. 6. Public Advertisement and Neighbour Notification 6.1 The applications were advised by way of two site notices each, 125 direct neighbour notifications and advertisement in the Northants Evening Telegraph. A number of representations were received relating to amenity impact objections and have been summarised below. Odour 6.2 The main objection raised by residents is the odour generated by the site, especially when digestate spreading is undertaken. It is stated on a number of occasions that when spreading is taking place, windows must be shut and outdoor activities cannot be carried out due to severe malodour. The potential cumulative impact of the Westwood and Chelveston AD plants spreading at the same time concerns the residents who feel they may be surrounded on all sides should the five mile radius for spreading be accepted. Some of the respondents provided copies of correspondence with the district councils and Environment Agency on previous odour issues at the site. Traffic and noise 6.3 Increased traffic generation objections from residents in terms of noise, dust and vibration disturbance. It is felt that waste receipts being accepted on Public and Bank Holidays will further add to, what they feel is an existing problem. 7. Development Plan Policies 7.1 The most relevant development policies to this application are listed below.