Heaton Planning Planning Consultants My Ref: TAR-020-C/JC/JJ/002 Your Ref: Date: 17th November 2017 Strategic and Local Planning Manager Harborough District Council Adam and Eve St Market Harborough Leicestershire LE16 7AG Sent via email to: [email protected] Dear Sirs, RE: HARBOROUGH LOCAL PLAN PROPOSED SUBMISSION VERSION – REPRESENTATIONS ON BEHALF OF TARMAC Thank you for providing us with the opportunity for further comment in respect of the above document. We are making representations on behalf of Tarmac Trading Ltd (Tarmac). Tarmac operate sand and gravel quarries and ancillary processing infrastructure within the District at Husbands Bosworth and Shawell. In addition, there are landfill elements to operations at Husbands Bosworth and landfill and waste management activities undertaken at Shawell. We have previously submitted written representations to the Local Plan at the Options Paper stage, promoting a portion of a Tarmac landholding (the site) at Gibbet Lane, Shawell, for future employment use within the plan period. The site was given reference number E/009OC/16 and has not been taken forward in the Local Plan Proposed Submission version (September 2017) as an employment allocation. The site consists of operational processing plant, offices and laboratories connected with Tarmac’s wider mineral operations at Shawell and the adjoining Monier Tile Works. However, the site will be redundant at the cessation of mineral operations at Shawell which is anticipated during the new plan period. The site was previously promoted as being appropriate for employment uses, namely B1 (Business), B2 (General Industrial) and Strategic Storage and Distribution (B8), at the cessation of mineral operations at Shawell Quarry. The purpose of this letter is to re-iterate the promotion of site E/009OC/16 as a suitable site for B1 (Business), B2 9 The Square, Keyworth, Nottingham, NG12 5JT Tel 0115 937 5552 email [email protected] Heaton Planning is the trading name for Heaton P lanning Ltd. Registered office – 12 Bridgford Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham, NG2 6AB. Registered No. 4786259 (General Industrial) and non-strategic storage and distribution (B8) uses at the cessation of mineral operations. Review of the papers published as part of the Local Plan Submission version consultation have made it clear that the site is considered too small for strategic distribution allocation. Consequently, it is acknowledged that the size constraints of the site restrict the site’s potential for strategic-scale B8 allocation. However, it has also become apparent that the site has been ‘under-scored’ in relation to its appraisal contained within the Sustainability Appraisal of the Local Plan Submission version. Policy BE1 of the Submission Version aims to deliver an additional 59 hectares of B1, B2 and B8 uses across the District over the new plan period. It is important to note that no maximum amount of employment allocation hectarage is proposed within the Local Plan Submission Version. In order to achieve flexibility of delivery, a wide range of sites should be allocated within the Harborough Local Plan, dispersed across sustainable locations throughout the District. Nevertheless, the application of the methodology used by Harborough District Council to assess sites’ potential for employment allocation is not considered to be consistent or sound. I trust that the content within this letter will enable the Local Planning Authority to more accurately assess the site’s potential for employment allocation in the emerging Harborough Local Plan. Site Appraisal: E/009OC/16 ‘Shawell Quarry, Gibbet Lane’ Upon detailed review of both the site-specific Appraisal of site E/009OC/16 and the Site Appraisal Framework published at Appendix E of the Local Plan Submission version Sustainability Report, we have identified a number of inconsistencies/inaccuracies which we believe result in the site under-scoring on its appraisal. In turn, this has resulted in other sides which are less appropriate for employment allocation being favoured ahead of site E/009OC/16. The assessment of promoted sites as published in the Sustainability Report is therefore considered to be unsound. The tests of soundness as outlined in paragraph 182 of the NPPF are not met, as it cannot be demonstrated that the Council have put forward the “most appropriate strategy when considered against the reasonable alternatives” when the evidence used to select sites is flawed. The inconsistencies/inaccuracies we have identified are outlined below: Policy NE2 ‘Potential for Impact on Wildlife’ The Site Appraisal states that the site is located 80 metres from the Shawell Pits Local Wildlife Site (LWS). Based on this, the Site Appraisal Framework states that the site 9 The Square, Keyworth, Nottingham, NG12 5JT Tel 0115 937 5552 email [email protected] Heaton Planning is the trading name for Heaton P lanning Ltd. Registered office – 12 Bridgford Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham, NG2 6AB. Registered No. 4786259 should be awarded the highest score available, and not an ‘amber (mitigation may be required/unavoidable impacts)’ category which is reserved for sites within 50 metres of a LWS. Natural England consider that land within 400 metres of a SSSI is ‘where additional development could have a substantial impact’. The site is located greater than 400 metres from a SSSI and greater than 50 metres from a LWS. This should be reflected within the Appraisal for the site and the site’s category against the criteria of Policy NE2 should be upgraded. Policy NE9 ‘Agricultural Land’ The Site Appraisal categorises the site as the second highest category ‘light green (unlikely to have major influence on trends)’ and is therefore believed to ‘contain less than 10 hectares of agricultural land grade 1-3’. However the site is 7.5 hectares in total area and is recognised as previously developed land within the Appraisal. There is no land used for agriculture on-site. Nor is there a requirement for the site to be restored to agricultural uses in connection with any mineral permission. The Appraisal should therefore re-categorise the site and accurately place the site within the highest category against the criteria of Policy NE9 as land ‘not containing any agricultural land grade 1-3b’. Policy BH2 ‘Impact on Setting of Built Environment’ The Site Appraisal states that the site is located approximately 500 metres west of heritage assets within Shawell village. It goes on to state that “it is thought that these are adequately screened from the site, and are unlikely to suffer adverse effects from development”. This is accurate. However, the site is categorised within the ‘amber (mitigation may be required/unavoidable impacts)’ category. This category is defined within the Site Appraisal Framework as ‘The setting and significance of a heritage asset may be effected’. This categorisation is clearly contrary to the content of the Appraisal. The site-specific appraisal is accurate in that heritage assets are located at least 500 metres from the site, and are adequately screened. Given the current use of the site as a minerals processing plant, the allocation of the site for employment land is unlikely to cause any greater harm to the heritage assets at Shawell village than as existing. This should be reflected within the Appraisal for the site and the site’s category against the criteria of Policy BH2 should be upgraded to address this inconsistency. Policy BH3 ‘Landscape Capacity to Change’ The Site Appraisal does not give a reason for categorising the capability of the landscape to accommodate the development as ‘unknown’. In failing to score the site against the criteria of Policy BH3, the site has been deprived of scoring well against other promoted sites located within landscapes of greater sensitivity that have lower capacity to accommodate employment development, such as greenfield sites proposed to be allocated for employment uses. 9 The Square, Keyworth, Nottingham, NG12 5JT Tel 0115 937 5552 email [email protected] Heaton Planning is the trading name for Heaton P lanning Ltd. Registered office – 12 Bridgford Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham, NG2 6AB. Registered No. 4786259 In the first instance, the site currently accommodates mineral processing plant, associated offices and laboratories and lies adjacent to Monier Tile Works. The long- established intensive built development increases the capacity of the landscape to employment uses in the long-term, as it is already established. Furthermore, the Harborough District Landscape Character Assessment places the site within the ‘Lutterworth Lowlands’ which are classified as having ‘Medium-High’ capacity for change (the highest of any Character Area in the District). The Medium-High capacity of the wider landscape to change, along with the presence of built development on- site and adjoining, should be reflected in at least a score of ‘Medium-High Medium’ on the site’s appraisal. This would score the site as among the best of all sites promoted for employment use. In the case of every other site promoted for employment uses to Harborough that utilise previously-developed land, a score of ‘High’ or ‘Medium-High Medium’ has been issued. The above should be reflected within the Appraisal for the site and the landscape of the site’s capacity to accommodate employment uses should be reflected accurately in the Site’s Appraisal. Policy I6 ‘Access to Highways’ The site is categorised within the Site Appraisal as within the ‘amber (mitigation may be required/unavoidable impacts)’ category, which is labelled as not applicable in relation to Policy I6. This appears to be erroneous. We have assumed that the site should in fact have been categorised with the highest possible score to reflect the access to the highway network that exists at present. Furthermore, the Site Appraisal states that the site has “potential access form Gibbet Lane however the capacity of this road to deal with the potential demand of the site remains unknown”.