PLANNING AND REGULATORY COMMITTEE 15 December 2015 PLANNING APPLICATIONS FOR DETERMINATION Item 1: 07/15/0866/F Location: Land at Cock Lane adjacent to the A10, Hoddesdon, Herts, EN11 8LS Description: Erection of a ground-mounted solar photovoltaic array and associated infrastructure Applicant: Mulbrick Clean Energy LLP Agent: Green Cat Renewables Date Received: 15.09.2015 Date of Committee: 15.12.2015 Officer Contact: Peter Quaile Expiry Date: 15.12.2015 Ward Councillors: Councillors Gordon, Hutchings and Rowland RECOMMENDED that: subject to the application first being submitted to the Secretary of State as Green Belt development under the Town and Country Planning (Consultation) (England) Direction 2009, permission be granted subject to the conditions at the end of this report. 1. CONSULTATIONS 1.1 HCC Flood Risk Management – No objection subject to conditions 1.2 HCC Highways – No objection subject to conditions 1.3 HCC Archaeology – No objection subject to a condition requiring archaeological investigation prior to commencement of work 1.4 Environmental Health – No objection but advises that an Environmental Management Plan should be provided for the site. 1.5 Herts and Middx Wildlife Trust – Suggests a condition requiring an environmental design strategy to promote bio-diversity and on site ecological enhancement 1.6 Herts Police – Raise concerns over site security and CCTV coverage A1 2. PUBLICITY 2.1 The application was advertised by means of site notices, newspaper advert and neighbour letters expired on 11th February 2015. 3. REPRESENTATIONS 3.1 No objections have been received to date. 4. RELEVANT LOCAL PLAN POLICIES 4.1 The following policies of the Borough of Broxbourne Local Plan Second Review 2001-2011 (adopted December 2005) apply: SUS2 Energy SUS18 Surface Water Drainage GBC2 Development in the Metropolitan Green Belt GBC6 Proposals for Non-Agricultural Uses of Green Belt Land GBC16 Landscape Character Areas and Enhancement HD1 Effects of Development on Nationally Important Sites and Monuments HD17 Retention/Enhancement of Landscape Features HD22 Community Safety IMP2 Community & Infrastructure needs linked to new development 4.2 The Borough Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) (August 2004) is relevant in this case as it provides design guidance for all forms of development. 4.3 The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) 2012 also needs to be considered as it sets out the Government’s planning policies for England and how these are expected to be applied. In particular, paragraphs 79-92 deal with Green Belt locations and applications for renewable energy projects while paragraphs 97-98 guide planning authorities in setting a strategy for renewables and dealing with subsequent applications for such installations. 5. LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SITE 5.1 This irregularly-shaped site adjoins the western side of the A10 immediately to the south of where Cock Lane road-bridge crosses the dual carriageway. The pedestrian bridge which accesses the eastern edge of the Broxbournebury Estate lies to the south of the site. The application site has an area of nearly 9.5 hectares while the array would occupy an area of just over 9 hectares. A2 Application Site looking north along its eastern side 5.2 The site falls towards its southern boundary and as the A10 is in a cutting at this point, the site is set around 5 metres above the level of the carriageway at the boundary. The site itself has the profile of a an upturned dish with a raised central area. The site has been extracted for gravels, infilled then capped with gas vents dotted across the surface. The capping is covered with topsoil and some rough grassland of poor quality has established since the quarry was closed in the 1990s. There is dense woodland to the south side of the site, continuous tree/hedgerow along the A10 boundary and woodland along the majority of the northern boundary. To the west there is some tree cover but there are views from the open Green Belt into the application site. The site lies unused at present. A3 Western Boundary Eastern Boundary 5.3 Vehicle access is taken from Cock Lane on its southern side via an unmade track and field gate. The nearest dwelling is North Lodge to the west of the entrance along Cock Lane while Hoddesdonbury Farm which is a listed building is further along Cock Lane on the northern side of the road. There is a moated mediaeval site, which is an ancient monument, in the woods to the north-west of the site. Vehicle Entrance from Cock Lane 6. PROPOSAL 6.1 This is a full application to install a solar photovoltaic (PV) array which would generate a maximum of five megawatts by means of approximately 17,840 solar panels facing directly south set at an angle of 25 degrees on metal frames secured by concrete bases. The maximum output equates to power for around 1000 houses. The rows of panels would be set around 5.4m apart at the northern end of the site but would be closer together at the southern end due to the slope of the land; the overall height of each of the generating structures would be 2.577m. The individual panels would be 99cm deep and 165cm wide. The generating panels would be served by five inverter stations (which are required to convert DC current to AC so that it can be transmitted into the national grid network) and a sub-station. The maximum height of the inverter stations would be 2.92m and the sub-station would be 3.8m high. All these installations would be finished in dark green. There would be a mesh security fence and CCTV guarding the site. A4 6.2 The applicant has indicated that the connection to the National Grid will be below ground. Confirmation on this point is being sought from the applicant and an update will be provided to the Committee. Proposed Site Layout Proposed Solar PV Installation A5 6.3 The application is supported by a suite of documents as follows: Design and Access Statement Landscape Design Report Flood Risk Assessment Ecology Assessment Environmental Appraisal Environmental Management Plan 6.4 The applicant sought a pre-application screening opinion in which the Council, as local planning authority, stated that a formal environmental assessment would not be required for the installation of a solar PV array on this site. 7. RELEVANT PLANNING HISTORY 7.1 The relevant planning history relates to the mineral and waste operations. 7.2 Permission was granted 9th October 1979 under reference 7/588-1979 for “Use of existing vehicle access onto Cock Lane and new internal access road for extraction of sand and gravel.” 7.3 Permission was granted 11th November 1981 under reference 7/864/1981 for “Restoration of worked-out gravel pit by infilling with putrescible and non- putrescible waste.” 7.4 Permission was granted 23rd June 1998 under reference 7/226/1998 for “ Erection of skid-mounted, electronically operated pumping and flowing plant for the continuing safe dispersal of landfill gas.” 8. APPRAISAL 8.1 The main issues for consideration in this case are as follows: i. Principle of installing the solar PV array on this Green Belt site. ii. Design, layout, and appearance; iii. Impact on amenity of neighbouring residential properties; iv. Highways; v. Ecology Principles of development 8.2 The relevant National policies in relation to the Metropolitan Green Belt are set out in paragraphs 79-92 of the NPPF. Paragraph 81 advises councils, amongst other objectives, to look “for opportunities to…..improve damaged and derelict land” Paragraph 91 of the NPPF notes that “When located in the Green Belt, elements of many renewable energy projects will comprise inappropriate development.” With regard to climate change and flooding, Paragraph 97 of the NPPF states that local planning authorities should “have a positive strategy to promote energy from renewable and low carbon sources.” A6 In relation to determining planning applications for renewable energy development, Paragraph 98 of the NPPF states that local planning authorities should “approve the application if its impacts are (or can be made) acceptable.” The footnote to this guidance notes “unless material considerations indicate otherwise.” With regard to Local Plan Policies, SUS2 Energy states the Council will support energy conservation and reductions in energy demands by (d) “Encouraging, wherever appropriate, the development of renewable energy sources, subject to other environmental policies of this Plan”. Policy GBC2 sets out the uses and operational development appropriate in the Green Belt but to an extent is superseded by the guidance set out in the NPPF. Policy GBC6 sets out criteria against which non-agricultural uses of Green Belt land will be assessed. 8.3 The erection of structures in the form of the PV panels and supporting structures, along with the inverter stations and sub-station is considered to be inappropriate development in the Green Belt as they are not a category of operational development explicitly set out as appropriate in national or local policy. In such circumstances, it is necessary to demonstrate very special circumstances in order for a development to proceed. In the case of the application site, it has been used for landfill purposes, including putrescible waste, then restored with a series of gas vents. It currently has no beneficial land use and is clearly damaged land of poor quality. Paragraph 81 of the NPPF notes that one of the primary objectives for planning in the Green Belt is to “improve damaged and derelict land”. It is considered that the application site falls squarely within the category of damaged land as set out in the NPPF and that this a very special circumstance in favour of its development. Allied to this, the installation of a PV array would be accompanied by landscape and ecological enhancements which, over the period of the working life of the facility which is initially set at 25 years, would help to return the site to a usable condition even if only as pasture/grazing land.