Regulatory and Other Committee Open Report on behalf of Richard Wills Executive Director, Environment & Economy Report to: Planning and Regulation Committee Date: 5 October 2015 Subject: County Matter Application – S53/0255/13 Summary: An application has been made by the Trustees of Park Farm 1987 Settlement (agent: Hughes Craven Ltd) under the provisions of Schedule 14 of the Environment Act 1995 for the First Periodic Review of the conditions by which Little Ponton Quarry, Whalebone Lane, Little Ponton operates. The application was accompanied by an Environmental Statement and in accordance with Regulation 22 of the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulation 2011, further information was submitted. The key issues in the determination of this application are whether the proposed conditions are acceptable in relation to controlling impacts from the development in relation to landscape and visual impacts, soils, nature conservation, the historic environment, highways, noise and dust. Discussions took place with the applicant throughout the determination of this application which resulted in a complete revised set of conditions being submitted on 11 September 2015. Recommendation: That the scheme of conditions set out in this report be approved, in accordance with those submitted on 11 September 2015. Background 1. Little Ponton Quarry, Whalebone Lane, Little Ponton is a historic limestone quarry which was granted planning permission on 6 April 1961. Under the provisions of the Environment Act 1995, in 1997 the quarry operator submitted an application for the determination of conditions which should apply to the quarry. On 6 June 1997 Lincolnshire County Council approved a total of 31 conditions to be applied to the site (reference S53/226/97). According to the information submitted, no mineral working has taken place at the site since this initial review was undertaken. 2. Since the initial review of conditions for Little Ponton Quarry in 1997, the town of Grantham has been awarded Growth Point Status and two Sustainable Urban Extensions have been allocated through the South Kesteven Core Strategy (adopted 2010). The Southern Quadrant Sustainable Urban Extension has been designated from the A1 in the west to the A52 in the east and part of its southern boundary lies adjacent to the northern boundary of Little Ponton Quarry. As part of this development a Southern Quadrant Link Road between the B1174 Spittlegate Level and the A52 Somerby Hill was granted planning permission by South Kesteven District Council on 27 November 2013 (reference S13/0775). Further to this an outline application has been submitted to South Kesteven District Council to develop the land south of Grantham as a mixed use urban extension comprising: up to 3,700 dwellings including sheltered housing for the elderly and extra care accommodation in Class C2; up to 110,000 square metres of employment space within use classes B1, B2 and B8; educational facilities including a primary school and a secondary school; a local centre up to 8,000 square metres including use classes A1 shops, A2 financial and professional offices, A3 restaurant, A4 public house, A5 takeaway, B1 police room, D1 health centre and crèche, D2 community hall and gym; associated open space, playing fields and changing rooms, children's play areas, allotments, woodlands, wildlife habitat areas and sustainable urban drainage system; roads, footpaths, cycleways, car and cycle parking; utility services including electricity substations and pumping stations with all matters reserved (reference S14/2169). This application has not yet been determined. 3. The proposed Southern Quadrant Link Road lies along the southern boundary of the Sustainable Urban Extension, adjacent to the northern boundary of Little Ponton Quarry. The illustrative masterplan which has been submitted with the Sustainable Urban Extension outline planning application shows an area of landscaping between Little Ponton Quarry and the proposed Link Road and then a further area of landscaping between the proposed road and the land to the north, which is proposed to be the final phase of housing. As part of the Link Road scheme it is proposed that Whalebone Lane to the north would be closed to vehicle traffic, with the road being realigned to join the Link Road. The Application 4. Little Ponton Quarry is a historic limestone quarry with planning permission to be worked until 2042. It is estimated that there are 9 million tonnes of remaining reserves of limestone at the quarry within the permitted area. Under the provisions of Schedule 14 of the Environment Act 1995, this application has been made for the First Periodic Review of the conditions by which Little Ponton Quarry operates. This application was received on 5 December 2012 and has been subject to additional information and amendments during the course of its determination. The conditions originally proposed by the applicant have also been amended since the application was originally submitted. Site Location Plan Environmental Statement 5. The application has been supported by an Environmental Statement (ES) and in accordance with Regulation 22 of the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2011 (EIA Regulations), further information was submitted on 18 June 2015 to supplement that submitted with the original ES. The original ES contains the following information (although some of this information has been subject to change since the original submission, the revised information is set out in relation to the Regulation 22 submission later in this report): Chapter 1: Non-Technical Summary provides a summary of the chapters of the ES. Chapter 2: Introduction provides the background to the site and states that planning permission for mineral extraction at Little Ponton Quarry was originally granted in 1961. It states that during the initial review in 1997 of the old mineral planning permission, it was agreed that no further working should take place within the southern, previously worked area of the site. It is also stated that it is unclear when the quarry was last worked substantially, but that the site has remained inactive since the determination of the Initial Review and a number of the pre-commencement conditions contained within that Review have not been discharged. The applicant is said to have no immediate plans to recommence working at the site but wishes to retain the permission to allow for future mineral working. Chapter 3: Site Details describes the site as being situated approximately 3.5 km south-southeast of Grantham, within the parish of Little Ponton and Stroxton. The site lies on the eastern slopes of the Witham Valley, with the River Witham running from south to north between 250 metres and 700 metres to the west. The surrounding area is largely in agricultural use with industrial land uses becoming more common towards the southern fringe of Grantham, to the north west of the site. The principal transport routes include the A1 to the west and the A52 to the north. The East Coast Mainline railway runs to the west of the site, with Whalebone Lane, a "C" class road, forming the eastern boundary. The total permission area extends to approximately 21 hectares and the area is divided into two triangular sections, with working having historically been restricted to the southern section. The northern part of the site is approximately 16.7 hectares and comprises primarily agricultural land. Twentytwo Acre Plantation lies approximately half way along the western boundary of the northern part of the site and Whalebone Spinney is located in its north eastern corner. The land falls from northeast to west with a maximum elevation of 120 metres Above Ordnance Datum (AOD) in the north east corner, falling to approximately 103 metres AOD at its north western boundary and 107 metres AOD at its southern tip. The southern part of the site is approximately 4.3 hectares and is largely comprised of historic mineral workings which have regenerated to varying degrees. The northern part of this site is approximately 107 metres AOD, falling to approximately 75 metres AOD at its southern tip. The existing entrance to the quarry is directly from Whalebone Lane, approximately 170 metres north of the southern tip of the site. The closest residential properties to the site are Park House Cottages which are approximately 170 metres from the southern tip of the site. Chapter 4: Geology and Reserves states that the former workings at the site exploited beds of the lower part of Upper Lincolnshire Limestone and all units of the Lower Lincolnshire Limestone and that a number of boreholes drilled around the site have confirmed these beds continue beneath the unworked area. Local soils are said to generally be thin, stony and infertile with poor water retention. Borehole data indicates that mean limestone thicknesses beneath the unworked section of the site are in the region of 30 metres, with the base of the limestone broadly mirroring surface topography and falling to the south and west. For the purposes of reserve estimation a figure of 28 metres has been utilised to take into account the presence of highly weathered material close to the surface, the thin interbedded clays which are encountered within the deposit and the drop in topography in the north western corner of the site. It is stated that allowing for a standoff from all boundaries, woodlands, proposed screening bunds, site access and infrastructure, it is anticipated that the total extraction area would be in the region of 14 hectares, containing a saleable reserve in the region of 7 million tonnes (using a conversion rate of 2.3 tonnes per cubic metre). Chapter 5: Hydrology and Hydrogeology states that owing to the permeable nature of the underlying limestones, surface waters on the limestone outcrop are largely absent, with the closest significant surface water to the site being the River Witham.