E DEVELOPMENT CONTROL AND REGULATORY BOARD 24TH JANUARY 2013 REPORT OF THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE COUNTY MATTER PART A – SUMMARY REPORT APP. NO. & DATE: 2011/0369/03 (2011/C435/03) – 21st March 2011 PROPOSAL: Application under Section 73 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended) to vary conditions 5 and 6 of planning permission 2006/1565/03 to extend mineral extraction at Shawell Quarry from Stage 7 westwards into a small field and restore to agriculture and nature conservation water bodies LOCATION: Shawell Quarry, Gibbet Lane, Shawell, Lutterworth (Harborough District) APPLICANT: Lafarge Aggregates Ltd. MAIN ISSUES: Extension of existing sand and gravel quarry, removal of species-rich hedgerow. RECOMMENDATION: PERMIT subject to conditions requiring further ecological survey works and the translocation of an existing hedgerow on the site to another location adjacent to the extraction area. Circulation under the Local Issues Alert Procedure Mr. G. A. Hart CC Officer to Contact Georg Urban (tel. 0116 305 6756) e-mail: [email protected] 2 2011/0369/03 (2011/C435/03) - continued PART B – MAIN REPORT Site Location and Planning History 1. The Shawell Quarry/Cotesbach quarry and landfill site is located north west of the village of Shawell and south of the village of Cotesbach, near Lutterworth. The mineral extraction and landfill area is located north of Gibbet Lane, a narrow road linking Shawell with the A5/A426 junction to the west of the site. The associated minerals processing plant, a number of silt settlement lagoons, a roof tile works and a concrete blockworks are located to the south of the road. Mineral is transported from the extraction area to the processing plant by means of a conveyor which crosses under Gibbet Lane. An inert waste recovery and recycling facility is also situated south of Gibbet Lane. There is also a mechanical/biological treatment (MBT) facility associated with the landfill site. This is located on the north side of Gibbet Lane adjacent to the entrance to the landfill site and treats municipal wastes. 2. The nearest property in Cotesbach is Town End Farm, which is located 90- 110m north of the quarry boundary. The southern edge of Lutterworth is about 2km north of the site boundary. 3. Shawell Quarry has been in operation since the late 1950s. The first planning permission for sand and gravel extraction dates back to January 1958. In the late 1970s, extraction operations took place on land near Hill Farm, to the west of the A426 Lutterworth Road. Since then, a number of planning permissions have been granted for mineral extraction, the erection of plant, landfilling of waste and other operational works. 4. The quarry and associated mineral planning permissions have been the subject of a periodic review of planning conditions under the Environment Act 1995. An updated schedule of planning conditions for the mineral planning permissions at Shawell Quarry was approved by the Development Control and Regulatory Board in April 2005. 5. A more recent planning permission was granted in September 2007 (reference 2006/1565/03) and covers the extraction of sand and gravel from an area to the west of the previously permitted quarry/landfill. It also includes a revision of the permitted scheme of working and extends the existing landfill operation into the new western extension. 6. A number of Public Rights of Way are located near the site. The original route of Footpath X26 traverses the consented mineral extraction/landfill area from Cotesbach to the north of the quarry and links to Gibbet Lane in the south. This footpath is currently the subject of a temporary diversion for the duration of quarrying and landfill operations. The original route of Footpath X26 would be reinstated following the final restoration of the site. Bridleway X27 also links the unnamed lane to the north of the quarry and Gibbet Lane in the south. The route of this bridleway has been diverted temporarily along the western edge of the quarry and would also be reinstated following site reclamation. DC&REG. BOARD 24/01/2013 3 2011/0369/03 (2011/C435/03) - continued DC&REG. BOARD 24/01/2013 4 2011/0369/03 (2011/C435/03) - continued Proposed Development 7. Planning permission 2006/1565/03 is subject to a condition (Condition 5) which requires the development to be carried out in accordance with the details contained in the planning application and accompanying documents. The drawings submitted with planning application 2006/1565/03 identify the extent of the permitted mineral extraction area by a dashed brown line. In addition, Condition 6 requires that the working and reclamation of the site shall be carried out progressively in accordance with the submitted details. A scheme of working and restoration was submitted with the planning application. 8. The operator of Shawell Quarry, Lafarge Aggregates UK Limited, proposes to extract sand and gravel from an agricultural field in the extreme north western part of the site, which is located inside the boundary of planning permission 2006/1565/03 and adjacent to but outside the limits of the permitted mineral extraction area as identified on the drawings submitted with the planning application. 9. In order to be able to work the mineral resources in this area and to adapt the permitted extraction phasing of the site accordingly, Lafarge Aggregates Ltd. has submitted a planning application for the variation of conditions 5 and 6 of planning permission 2006/1565/03. 10. The area of land from which Lafarge intend to extract sand and gravel is referred to in the application as “Stage 7A” and currently consists of pasture land. An agricultural field is located to the west and north of the proposed extraction area. Aerial photographs taken in 2006 show that the proposed extraction area and the adjacent land to the west and north used to form part of the same field. The western boundary of the proposed extraction area is formed by a hedgerow which includes a number of mature trees and has in recent years been strengthened by supplementary planting, as required by planning permission 2006/1565/03. The northern boundary is marked by a post and wire fence. The route of the temporary diversion of Bridleway X27 runs along the northern and western edge of the application site. The property of Town End Farm is located further north, beyond the agricultural field, at a distance of approximately 75m from the northern corner of the extraction area. 11. To the east and south, the proposed additional extraction area abuts active parts of the quarry. Stage 7 of the permitted minerals extraction operation lies to the east, beyond a mature hedgerow. Following the completion of mineral extraction, the majority of Stage 7 has already been backfilled with overburden. A narrow section in the western part of Stage 7 remains to be backfilled. The route of the Transco East Midlands No. 2 Feeder high-pressure gas pipeline forms the southern boundary of the proposed extraction area. Beyond the pipeline, to the south, are the permitted mineral extraction stages 8 and 9. Mineral extraction in stages 8A/8B is ongoing. Stage 9 has been stripped of topsoil and subsoil to provide access to a layer of clay overburden. This clay is used in the engineering of landfill cells elsewhere in the quarry. DC&REG. BOARD 24/01/2013 5 2011/0369/03 (2011/C435/03) - continued Removal of Hedgerow between Stages 7 and 7A (“Hedgerow H7”) 12. Due to the thickness of overburden and certain design requirements to ensure slope stability in the extraction area, the extraction of mineral from the proposed Stage 7A would necessitate the removal of the hedgerow running along the eastern side of the area and forming the boundary with extraction Stage 7 to the east. This hedgerow was referred to as “Hedgerow H7” in the Environmental Statement which accompanied planning application 2006/1565/03 for the extension of the quarry and landfill. An ecological survey carried out in May and June 2005 prior to the submission of planning application 2006/1565/03 confirmed this hedgerow to be a species-rich hedgerow likely to qualify as “important” under the Hedgerows Regulations. However, following a subsequent survey carried out in April 2012 the applicant considered that the hedgerow no longer qualifies as “important”. Method of Working 13. Following the removal of the hedgerow along the eastern boundary of the proposed Stage 7A, topsoil and subsoil would be stripped from Stage 7A and placed directly in the adjacent Stage 7 area for restoration purposes. The first part of overburden from Stage 7A would be used in the restoration of the remaining part of Stage 7. Once this is complete, the remainder of the overburden would be placed directly in the extraction void in Stage 7A. 14. Under current arrangements, mineral at Shawell Quarry is extracted by hydraulic excavator and loaded into dump trucks. It is then delivered via internal haul roads to a feed hopper within the quarry and transferred from the extraction area to the processing plant by means of a conveyor under Gibbet Lane. The material is processed at the processing plant to the south of Gibbet Lane, where finished products are also stored, awaiting their sale and export from the site by lorry. It is proposed to continue these arrangements with the mineral to be extracted from Stage 7A. 15. The applicant advises that the proposal would yield approximately 63,750 tonnes of sand and gravel. At a rate of production of 400,000 tonnes per year, the applicant estimates that Stage 7A would be worked in approximately three months. 16. It is not proposed to amend other elements of the permitted operation, such as the existing hours of operation or limitations on HGV movements.