Lower Compton Waste Recovery Facility Planning Application Supporting Statement Prepared by Adams Hendry Consulting Limited August 2011 www.hills-group.co.uk Contents PAGE 1 Introduction 1 2 Site & Surroundings 5 3 The Proposed Development 11 4 Planning & Environmental Policy Context 23 5 The Need for the Proposed Development 33 6 Planning & Environmental Analysis 43 7 Conclusions 61 Appendix 1 Planning Application Supporting Statement Figures Lower Compton Waste Recovery Facility HILLS/1011 Hills Waste Solutions Ltd Planning Application Supporting Statement 1 Introduction 1.1 Hills Waste Solutions Ltd (Hills) is seeking planning permission from Wiltshire Council (WC) for a Waste Recovery Facility (WRF) at its Lower Compton Waste Management Facility near Calne, Wiltshire, as shown on drawing HILLS/1011- DWG-001-Rev.A. 1.2 The development will comprise the following: • The extension and permanent retention of a Materials Recovery Facility and the provision of a Municipal Waste Transfer Station • The construction of a new Industrial and Commercial Waste Materials Recovery and Transfer Facility • Low grade open air windrow composting • The relocation and continued operation of the existing waste wood chipping operations • Reconfiguration of site infrastructure and landscape provisions and planting 1.3 The proposals are located within the administrative area of WC, a unitary authority. The planning application has been submitted to WC as the Waste Planning Authority (WPA). The proposals will meet the need for upgraded and additional infrastructure to provide for the processing of non hazardous wastes in Wiltshire. The Applicant 1.4 Hills is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Hills Group Limited, a privately owned family company established in 1900. Hills is a significant regional provider of products and services within the waste management sector and offers a range of specialist waste management and recycling services to both the private and public sector. 1.5 These services are provided through a comprehensive network of waste management facilities that is centered on Wiltshire, but also extends into neighbouring counties. Hills is now one of the regionʼs largest providers of waste management solutions. As the recycling and disposal contractor to Wiltshire Council, Hills has also helped to establish the county as one of the UKʼs best performing recyclers of household waste. 1.6 The location of the planning application area for the proposals (subsequently referred to as the application site or the site), shown on drawing HILLS/1011-DWG- 002-Rev.A, is located within the existing Lower Compton Waste Management Facility owned by Hills. 1.7 This existing Lower Compton Waste Management Facility including the application site is strategically important to the management of waste in Wiltshire. It provides essential waste recovery and disposal capacity for the management of a significant proportion of municipal waste arising in the Wiltshire area, and is equally important for waste produced by the industrial and commercial sectors. For both waste streams the existing facility provides a valuable resource for the treatment and diversion of recoverable wastes and the disposal of residual wastes to landfill. Adams Hendry Consulting Ltd 1 August 2011 Lower Compton Waste Recovery Facility HILLS/1011 Hills Waste Solutions Ltd Planning Application Supporting Statement 1.8 Whilst the existing site continues to play an essential role in the sustainable management of waste in Wiltshire, there is an urgent need for additional infrastructure to be provided and for the existing infrastructure associated with the treatment and recovery of waste at Lower Compton to be upgraded. The proposals will enable Hills to continue to service customer requirements, whilst providing capacity capable of fulfilling a long term role in the management of wastes arising in, and imported for management in, the Wiltshire area. The Planning Submission 1.11 This statement, and the folder in which it is contained comprise the documentation necessary to ensure that the planning application can be registered, validated and determined by WC. In addition to this statement, the planning submission comprises a number of technical matters, including: . Planning Application Forms and Certificates . Design and Access Statement (Adams Hendry) . Statement of Community Involvement (Adams Hendry) . Transport Assessment (PFA Consulting) . Ecological Impact Assessment (Johns Associates) . Arboricultural Impact Assessment and Tree Survey (Glendale Countryside) . Flood Risk Assessment and Surface Waste Drainage Strategy (Johns Associates) . Generic and Preliminary Land Quality Risk Assessments (SLR) . Planning Drawings (prepared by Peter Kent Architects and fabric) 1.12 This Planning Application Supporting Statement has been prepared by Adams Hendry Consulting Ltd to support the planning submission. Section 2 identifies the application site and its surroundings, including the relevant planning history for the site, and the proposed development is explained in detail in Section 3. Section 4 identifies the relevant planning and environmental policy context for this planning application, whilst Section 5 explains the need for the development and Section 6 provides an analysis of planning and environmental policy applicable to the proposals. A conclusion is presented in Section 7. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) 1.9 The statutory requirement for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) comes from Directive 85/337/EEC (as amended by Directive 97/11/EC and Article 3 of Directive 2003/35/EC), which has been implemented into UK law for present purposes through the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (England and Wales) Regulations 1999 (as amended) (subsequently referred to as the EIA Regulations). 1.10 The EIA Regulations defines two categories of development: those listed under Schedule 1 of the Regulations and for which EIA is mandatory, and those listed under Schedule 2 and for which a decision has to be made (taking into account various criteria set out in the EIA Regulations) whether it is likely to have significant effects on the environment by virtue of factors such as its nature, size or location, thereby requiring an EIA. Adams Hendry Consulting Ltd 2 August 2011 Lower Compton Waste Recovery Facility HILLS/1011 Hills Waste Solutions Ltd Planning Application Supporting Statement 1.11 The proposals are not Schedule 1 development. However, the proposed development is considered to fall within the definition set out in Schedule 2, paragraph 11 (b) ʻOther Projectsʼ of the Regulations, which is defined as: “Installations for the disposal of waste (unless specified in Schedule 1) [where]; (i) The disposal is by incineration; or (ii) the area of the development exceeds 0.5 hectares; or (iii) the installation is to be sited within 100 metres of any controlled waters.” 1.12 The proposals will provide capacity to treat and recover waste on a site that is approximately 8.75 hectares in area. As such it has been necessary to consider whether or not the project would be likely to give rise to significant environmental effects. It was concluded that there was insufficient information available available to be able to confirm that no such significant effects might arise in respect of transportation and access, air quality and odour and noise and vibration matters. 1.13 Concluding that an EIA was required, Hills submitted a request to WC in April 2011 for a Scoping Opinion on information to be included within a proposed EIA. In June 2011 WC provided their Scoping Opinion confirming that the ES for the proposals should provide information in respect of: • Transport and Access effects; • Air Quality & Odour effects; • Noise & Vibration effects; • Cumulative and In-Combination Effects; • Consideration of Alternatives, and • Planning Policy Implications. 1.14 Consequently, an EIA of the proposed development has been carried out and submitted in support of the planning application. Information relating to transport and access, air quality and odour, and noise and vibration is provided in the accompanying ES at Chapters 9, 10 and 11, respectively. Cumulative and in- combination effects are addressed within each of those chapters, taking account of the information given in Chapter 2 of the ES. Following the EIA scoping process some minor iteration of the proposals was undertaken. As a result of this process it was considered appropriate to also undertake a landscape and visual impact assessment of the proposals. This assessment is reported in Chapter 12 of the ES. Adams Hendry Consulting Ltd 3 August 2011 Lower Compton Waste Recovery Facility HILLS/1011 Hills Waste Solutions Ltd Planning Application Supporting Statement Adams Hendry Consulting Ltd 4 August 2011 Lower Compton Waste Recovery Facility HILLS/1011 Hills Waste Solutions Ltd Planning Application Supporting Statement 2 Site & Surroundings Introduction 2.1 This section describes the site of the proposals at the Lower Compton Waste Management Facility and their surroundings. It is based on site visits, aerial photographs, ordnance survey maps, surveys commissioned for the application documentation and information provided in the adopted and emerging Development Plan. Site Context and Location 2.2 The existing Lower Compton Waste Management Facility is located approximately 1km to the east of Calne, Wiltshire (see drawing HILLS/1011-DWG-001-Rev.A). Immediately to the south of the site entrance lies the residential area of