County Planning Committee Date Tuesday 2 December 2014 Time 2.00 pm Venue Council Chamber, County Hall, Durham Business Part A 1. Apologies for Absence 2. Substitute Members 3. Minutes of the meeting held on 4 November 2014 (Pages 1 - 4) 4. Declarations of Interest 5. Applications to be determined a) CMA/5/31 - Sheraton Hill and Hulam Farms, Sheraton, Hutton Henry, County Durham (Pages 5 - 36) Erection of 5 no. wind turbines with a maximum tip height of 115m and associated buildings and works b) CMA/5/40 - Land at Wingate Grange Farm situated to the west of Wingate, south east of Wheatley Hill, north of Deaf Hill, on the southern side of the A181 (Pages 37 - 66) Erection of 5 no. Wind Turbines (max tip height 115m) and associated infrastructure including crane hard-standings, a substation and control building, transformers, underground cabling, access tracks, and a meteorological mast c) DM/14/02556/OUT - Land to the North of Durham Road, Middlestone Moor, Spennymoor (Pages 67 - 90) Outline application for up to 300 dwellings, including site access, public open space, landscaping and associated infrastructure works. 6. Such other business as, in the opinion of the Chairman of the meeting, is of sufficient urgency to warrant consideration 7. Any resolution relating to the exclusion of the public during the discussion of items containing exempt information Part B Items during which it is considered the meeting will not be open to the public (consideration of exempt or confidential information) 8. Such other business as, in the opinion of the Chairman of the meeting, is of sufficient urgency to warrant consideration Colette Longbottom Head of Legal and Democratic Services County Hall Durham 24 November 2014 To: The Members of the County Planning Committee Councillor K Davidson (Chairman) Councillor B Moir (Vice-Chairman) Councillors J Allen, B Armstrong, D Boyes, M Dixon, D Hall, G Holland, A Laing, R Lumsdon, C Marshall, H Nicholson, G Richardson, A Shield, P Taylor and R Young Contact: Ian Croft Tel: 03000 269702 Agenda Item 3 DURHAM COUNTY COUNCIL At a Meeting of County Planning Committee held in Council Chamber, County Hall, Durham on Tuesday 4 November 2014 at 2.00 pm Present: Councillor K Davidson (Chairman) Members of the Committee: Councillors B Armstrong, D Boyes, M Dixon, D Hall, G Holland, I Jewell, A Laing, R Lumsdon, H Nicholson, G Richardson, A Shield and R Young 1 Apologies for Absence Apologies for absence were received from Councillors J Allen, B Moir and P Taylor. 2 Substitute Members Councillor I Jewell as substitute member for Councillor B Moir. 3 Declarations of Interest There were no declarations of interest. 4 Minutes The minutes of the meeting held on 7 October 2014 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman. 5 Applications to be determined 5a DM/14/01651/OUT - Land adjacent to Vicarage Close, Hargill Road, Howden-le-Wear Colin Harding, Senior Planning Officer informed the Committee that this application had been withdrawn at a late stage by the applicant. He clarified that should the application be re-submitted at any future date it would be subject to a further full consultation process. 5b DM/14/2132/FPA - Land at the former Seaham Colliery, Station Road, Seaham, County Durham The Committee considered a report of the Senior Planning Officer regarding an application for the erection of a new secondary school, parking, landscaping and Page 1 sports facilities on land a the former Seaham Colliery, Station Road, Seaham (for copy see file of minutes). Andrew Inch, Strategic Team Leader provided the Committee with a detailed presentation which included photographs of the site and a plan of the proposed layout. Councillor Laing, in Moving approval of the application, informed the Committee that Seaham was in need of a new school and she was delighted that this application had come forward. Councillor Dixon referred to planning Condition 20 which restricted the use of the MUGA to 9 p.m. Monday to Friday, and to Condition 21 which stated that no floodlighting shall be erected to the MUGA courts. The lack of floodlighting would, in effect, mean that during the winter months the MUGA would not be able to be used after 5 p.m. and Councillor Dixon considered Condition 21 to be too restrictive. Councillor Boyes queried the possibility of restricting the use of the MUGA to either 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. The Strategic Team Leader replied that the applicant had not proposed floodlighting and therefore the application had not been considered or assessed on the provision of floodlighting. Although planning Condition 21 excluded floodlighting for this application, the applicant could submit a later application for floodlighting if required, and this would be subject to consultation with local residents. He also considered the proposed hours for the use of the MUGA to be appropriate. Councillor D Boyes Seconded approval of the application, and it was Resolved: That the application be approved, subject to the conditions detailed in the report. 6 Bradley Open Cast Inquiry Update Claire Teasdale, Principal Planning Officer, provided the Committee with an update on the Bradley Open Cast Inquiry. In February 2011 the Committee refused planning permission for a proposed surface coal mining scheme at a site to be known as Bradley, near Leadgate, Consett, County Durham on the grounds that it would have an unacceptable impact on the environment and amenity of local communities, and the proposed community benefits of the proposal did not outweigh the unacceptable impact on the environment and amenity of local communities, contrary to Policies contained in the County Durham Minerals Local Plan. The applicant, UK Coal (UKC), lodged an appeal against the Council’s decision which was heard at a local Inquiry between 25 October 2011 and 11 November 2011, with the Planning Inspector’s decision letter issued in February 2012. The Inspector dismissed the appeal and an associated temporary footpath diversion order application that would have been necessary to facilitate the development. Page 2 In April 2012 UKC mounted a legal challenge against the Inspector’s appeal decision. A High Court judgement was handed down in July 2013 which upheld one of UKC’s grounds of challenge and quashed the Planning Inspector’s decision. As a result a new Inquiry was required to be held and another Inspector appointed to consider the appeal. The appeal, which was heard at a local Inquiry at Leadgate Workmen’s Social Club and Institute, commenced on 7 October 2014 and lasted 12 days. There was a considerable amount of local interest evidenced by the daily attendance at the inquiry by local residents. The Inspector’s decision was expected in the first few months of 2015. Councillor Shield reminded the Committee that the High Court had quashed the Planning Inspectors decision because the way it had been written and presented, with an over-emphasis on the Localism Act, rather than because of the decision itself. The Chairman placed on record both his and the Committee’s thanks to those officers who had been involved in the appeal process, and in particular Claire Teasdale, Laura Renaudon and Stuart Timmis. Page 3 This page is intentionally left blank Agenda Item 5a Planning Services COMMITTEE REPORT APPLICATION DETAILS APPLICATION NO: CMA/5/31 Erection of 5 no. wind turbines with a maximum tip height FULL APPLICATION DESCRIPTION: of 115m and associated buildings and works NAME OF APPLICANT: EDF Energy Renewables Sheraton Hill and Hulam Farms, Sheraton, Hutton Henry, ADDRESS: County Durham ELECTORAL DIVISION: Blackhalls Henry Jones, Senior Planning Officer CASE OFFICER: 03000 263960, [email protected] DESCRIPTION OF THE SITE AND PROPOSALS The Site 1. The application site comprises of 6.6 hectares of land at Sheraton Hill and Hulam Farms to the north of the settlement of Sheraton and to the east of Hutton Henry and the A19. Land within the application site comprises of an existing access road (Bellows Burn Lane), agricultural land associated with the farms, agricultural buildings and residential properties at the Hulam farmstead. The Bellows Burn watercourse crosses the application site at a point within its far south. 2. Sections of Footpath No. 14, Bridleway No. 1 and Bridleway No. 13 (all Sheraton with Hulam) all cross the application site. In addition Footpath No. 3 (Nesbitt), Footpath No. 9 Byway No. 18, Bridleway No. 20 and Bridleway No. 10 (all Sheraton and Hulam) are all within the immediate vicinity of the application site. The locally designated Easington Area of High Landscape Value is partly located within the application site. A small section of the application site (to the east of turbine 5) also includes the Hesleden Dene Local Wildlife. 3. In addition there are a host of local and statutory landscape, heritage and ecological land designations also located within relative close proximity to the application site. The submitted planning application through its assessment of landscape, heritage and ecological impacts, identifies a comprehensive list of such sites. 4. With regards to landscapes of the highest status of protection, the North Yorkshire Moors National Park is located approximately 25km to the south of the application site whilst the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is located approximately 32km to the west of the application site. Page 5 5. Also of particular note are sections of the designated Heritage Coast (approximately 3km east) and sections of this Durham coastline are also designated as a National Nature Reserve (NNR), Local Nature Reserve, RAMSAR site, Special Area of Conservation (SAC), Special Protection Area (SPA) and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). 6. The Castle Eden Dene NNR, SAC and SSSI are located approximately 2.4km to the north of the application site.