planning report D&P/2507b/01 18 February 2014 Plot 2, London Sustainable Industries Park, North Choats Road, Dagenham Dock in the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham planning application no.13/01134/FUL Strategic planning application stage 1 referral Town & Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended); Greater London Authority Acts 1999 and 2007; Town & Country Planning (Mayor of London) Order 2008 The proposal Erection of a building incorporating 55m high stack and associated plant to be used as an energy generation facility to generate electricity from residual waste along with car parking, boundary treatment and landscaping. The applicant The applicant is Thames Gateway Waste To Energy (TGW2E) Ltd, and the architect is CPMG Architects Ltd. Strategic issues The use of the site to generate electricity from residual waste is strongly supported. Other issues assessed include; employment and training, design, inclusive access, sustainable development, flood risk management, blue ribbon network and transport. Recommendation That Barking & Dagenham Council be advised that the application does not comply with the London Plan, for the reasons set out in paragraph 58 of this report; but that the possible remedies set out in that paragraph of the report could address these deficiencies. Context 1 On 10 January 2014 the Mayor of London received documents from Barking & Dagenham Council notifying him of a planning application of potential strategic importance to develop the above site for the above uses. Under the provisions of The Town & Country Planning (Mayor of London) Order 2008 the Mayor has until 20 February 2014 to provide the Council with a statement setting out whether he considers that the application complies with the London Plan, and his reasons for taking that view. The Mayor may also provide other comments. This report sets out information for the Mayor’s use in deciding what decision to make. page 1 2 The application is referable under Category 2B of the Schedule to the Order 2008: ”Waste development to provide an installation with capacity for a throughput of more than…50,000 tonnes per annum of waste produced outside the land in respect of which planning permission is sought.” 3 Once Barking & Dagenham Council has resolved to determine the application, it is required to refer it back to the Mayor for his decision as to whether to direct refusal; take it over for his own determination; or allow the Council to determine it itself. 4 The Mayor of London’s statement on this case will be made available on the GLA website www.london.gov.uk. Site description 5 The London Sustainable Industries Park (LSIP) is located off the A13 at Dagenham Dock via the Goresbrook Interchange and Choats Manor Way and Choats Road. Junction 30 of the M25 lies approximately 9 km to the east, whilst the North Circular /A406 lies approximately 5 km to the west. Dagenham Dock Rail Station is approximately 600m to the northeast. 6 The site is largely rectangular in shape, measures approximately 3.35 ha and is relatively flat. It is bounded to the east by Choats Manor Way, which links to the A13. To the immediate south of the site lies vacant land, for which planning permission has recently been granted for a 160,000 tonnes year anaerobic digestion facility (ref 13/00649/FUL). 7 The site has been cleared and levelled, landscaping implemented around the perimeter and an access road provided by the landowner, the Greater London Authority (GLA). The land benefits from an existing consent for an electricity generation facility granted in March 2011 (ref: 10/00287/LBBD). 8 The nearest residential properties are in Shaw Gardens, 350m to the north and Keel Close 950m west. The proposed Barking Riverside development is 500m to the west. 9 The A13 Ripple Road/Thames Gateway, approximately 1.3km north of the site, is the nearest section of the Transport for London Road Network (TLRN). The EL2 bus service between Ilford and Dagenham Dock stops outside the site on Choats Road. There are no other services within acceptable walking distance. The nearest railway station is Dagenham Dock, currently 1.4km away following Choats Road and Chequers Lane however funding has been secured for an extension of the Sustrans National Cycle Network (NCN) Route 13 to the rear of the site which will continue along the Gores Brook to Dagenham Dock station. As a result, the application site records a poor public transport accessibility level (PTAL) of 1b, on a scale of 1-6 where 6 is the highest. Details of the proposal 10 A full planning application has been submitted for the erection of a building incorporating 55m high stack and associated plant to be used as an energy generation facility to generate electricity from residual waste along with car parking, boundary treatment and landscaping. Case history 11 In 2011, a similar application was submitted and subsequently a planning permission was granted. The Mayor strongly supported the scheme (PDU/2507). 12 The current application is similar in principle to the approved development which is conversion of waste to energy. A difference in the technologies used has necessitated substantial changes in the design aspect of the scheme and the need for a new planning application. page 2 Strategic planning issues and relevant policies and guidance 13 The relevant issues and corresponding policies are as follows: Land use London Plan; Draft London Riverside Opportunity Area Planning Framework Waste London Plan; London Plan; the Municipal and Business Waste Management Strategies; Employment and training London Plan Urban design London Plan; Inclusive design London Plan; Accessible London: achieving an inclusive environment SPG; Planning and Access for Disabled People: a good practice guide (ODPM) Sustainable development London Plan; Sustainable Design and Construction SPG; Mayor’s Climate Change Adaptation Strategy; Mayor’s Climate Change Mitigation and Energy Strategy; Mayor’s Water Flood risk London Plan; Blue Ribbon Network London Plan Transport London Plan; the Mayor’s Transport Strategy; Land for Industry and Transport SPG 14 For the purposes of Section 38(6) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, the development plan in force for the area is the 2010 Barking & Dagenham Core Strategy Development Plan Document, the East London Joint Waste Development Plan Document, and the 2011 London Plan (with Alterations, 2013). 15 The following are also relevant material considerations: The National Planning Policy Framework and Technical Guide to the National Planning Policy Framework. The draft London Riverside Opportunity Area Planning Framework, (2011). The draft Further Alterations to the London Plan (FALP), January 2014 Land use & principle of development - Waste Management 16 The site is in Dagenham Dock employment area, which is a Strategic Industrial Location (SIL) and identified as a Preferred Industrial Location in the London Plan. London Plan policy 2.17 Strategic Industrial Locations explains how the Mayor will work to protect London’s SILs as London’s main reservoirs of industrial and related capacity. The policy goes on to explain that such related capacity includes general and light industrial uses, logistics, waste management and environmental industries (such as renewable energy generation), utilities, wholesale markets and some transport functions and that proposals not falling into these uses should be refused. 17 The London Sustainable Industrial Park is identified in Schedule 2 of the East London Joint Waste DPD as one of a number of sites which can potentially be available and suitable for waste management facilities. The Schedule 1 & 2 sites identified in the Joint Waste DPD are considered to make up the East London Joint Waste apportionment. 18 London Plan policy 5.17 Waste Capacity states that the Mayor supports the need to increase waste processing capacity in London, including strategically important sites for waste management and treatment, and resource recovery parks/consolidation centres. London sustainable industries park is one such location, where recycling, recovery and manufacturing activities can co-locate. page 3 19 Policy 5.17Bd and the text 5.85 of the draft FALP set out the minimum performance criterion known as the carbon intensity floor as 400 grams of CO2eq generated per kilowatt hour of electricity generated. The applicant has stated that the carbon intensity floor as –629g CO2/kWh, which is considerably below the required figure. However, this needs to be verified using the GLA’s spreadsheet tool in the calculations. 20 The applicant states that the proposals will have the capacity to deal with 180,000 tonnes of residual commercial and industrial waste that would otherwise be landfilled. Some 19 MW electricity/year will be generated of which 5MW, will be used to power the facility itself with the remaining 14MW exported to the grid; the power exported is sufficient to power approximately 32,000 homes for a year. Schematics of the proposed energy generation processing facility: Source – applicant’s design & access statement 21 The gasification process as shown above converts the majority of the waste feedstock into gas (‘syngas’), which is used as a fuel to generate power in the form of electricity. The applicant has pointed out that additional power in the form of steam or hot water can also be produced and exported if there is a suitable end user although this will reduce the amount of electricity that can be generated. This is welcomed. However as the electricity production technique is a steam turbine, it should be procured with the necessary tapping in the casing to allow a bleed of steam to supply district heating heat exchangers, should this be feasible. The capacity of this tapping should also be stated. Ideally a suitable space should be reserved in the design to allow the installation of district heating plant, equipment and a safeguarded route for the network to the site boundary at some later date.