Local Member’s Interest Mr. A. M. Deaville Cheadle & Checkley SCHEME OF DELEGATION TO OFFICERS MINERALS COUNTY MATTER Application No: SM.12/04/110 M (Staffordshire Moorlands) Applicant: Lafarge Tarmac Trading Ltd (Solihull) Description: Variation of Condition 2 of planning permission SM.99/0954 to extend the end date of the bagging plant and storage shed until 30/11/2023. Condition 2 of planning permission SM.99/0954 states that: ‘The use of the bagging plant and storage shed hereby permitted shall cease not later than 30 November 2013 . The applicant has proposed a revised condition stating that; ‘The use of the plant and storage shed hereby permitted shall cease not later than 30 November 2023’ . When the planning permission for the bagging plant and storage shed was granted in 15 Apr 2005, the operation was tied to the life of mineral extraction. At that time, the extraction of sand and gravel from the site was required to cease by 30 November 2013 (ref. SM.91/1355 granted October 1996). This application to vary condition 2 of planning permission SM.99/0954 was submitted with separate applications to extend the time for mineral extraction until 30 November 2023 (ref. SM.11/07/110 M) and also to extend the operation of sand products plant to 30 November 2023 (ref SM.12/03/110 M). Location: Croxden Quarry, Quarry Common, Cheadle, Stoke on Trent Croxden Quarry is located 1.5 kilometres to the south east of Cheadle and is accessed from Coppice Lane. The Development Plan policies relevant to this decision: Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Minerals Local Plan 1994 – 2006 (saved policies) • MLP Policy 9 (Site restoration and aftercare); • MLP Policy 10 (Legal agreements); 1 • MLP Policy 12 (Proximity to People and Sensitive Properties); • MLP Policy 21 (Protection of the landscape); • MLP Policy 30 (Traffic Impact Appraisal); • MLP Policy 31 (Transportation – legal agreements); • MLP Policy 35 (Ancillary industrial development). Note: An assessment to confirm the consistency of the above saved policies in the Minerals Local Plan with the National Planning Policy Framework was reported to the Planning Committee on 7 March 2013. Staffordshire Moorlands Core Strategy (adopted 26 March 2014) • Policy SS1 (Development Principles); • Policy SS1a (Presumption in Favour of Sustainable Development); • Policy SS6c (Other Rural Areas Area Strategy); • Policy SD1 (Sustainable Use of Resources); • Policy SD4 (Pollution and Flood Risk); • Policy DC1 (Design Considerations); • Policy DC3 (Landscape and Settlement Setting); • Policy NE1 (Biodiversity and Geological Resources): • Policy T1 (Development and Sustainable Transport). Other Material Considerations: National Planning Policy Framework (published on 27 March 2012) specifically: • Section 4 - Transport; • Section 7 - Design; • Section 11 - Natural environment; • Section 12 - Conserving and enhancing the historic environment, and • Section 13 - Minerals. Technical Guidance to the National Planning Policy Framework (published on 27 March 2012) Ministerial Statement - Planning for Growth - March 2011 Relevant Planning History Croxden Quarry operated under a consolidating planning permission ref. SM.91/1355, issued on 9 October 1996, which allowed the winning and working of sand and gravel, the manufacture of concrete products, the removal of sand and gravel from stockpiles and sale of ready mix concrete until November 2013. Planning permission to extend the duration of quarrying activities at the quarry to 30 November 2023 was granted at the same time as this application was determined (ref. SM.11/07/110 M). 2 Planning permission has also been granted to extend the date for the cessation of the use of the sand products plant until 30 November 2023 (ref. SM.12/03/110 M). Planning permission (ref. SM.99/0954) was granted in 15 April 2005 for the installation and use of a bagging plant and storage shed to package the dried sands, various mortar products and concrete repair materials. Screening Opinion: NO Environmental Statement: NO Consultation Responses Internal Environmental Advice Team – no objection Transport Development Control – no objection Planning Regulation Team - no objection, subject to the bagging plant and storage shed permission being related to the main quarry site permission. The Planning Regulation Team has no records of any complaints relating to the bagging plant and storage shed. External Staffordshire Moorlands District Council Environmental Health – no response District/Parish Council Staffordshire Moorlands District Council – no response Checkley Parish Council – no response Publicity and Representations Site notice: YES Press notice: NO Neighbour notification letters were sent out and no representations have been received. Applicant’s/agent’s submission The applicant has indicated that a separate application has been submitted to extend the sand workings for a further 10 years to enable the current permitted reserves to be fully extracted. This application has been submitted to seek to extend the term for the use of the bagging plant and shed in line with the end date for mineral extraction. Key Issues 3 This is an application to vary Condition 2 planning permission SM.99/0954 to extend the end date of the bagging plant and storage shed until 30 November 2023 at Croxden Quarry, Quarry Common, Cheadle, Stoke on Trent. Having given careful consideration to the application and supporting information, the relevant development plan policies, the other material considerations, the consultation responses, referred to above, the key issues are considered to be: • Any material changes to the site, its surroundings, or in terms of the policy considerations • Need to amend / update the Section 106 Legal Agreement Any material changes to the site, its surroundings, or in terms of the policy considerations The principle of the bagging plant and storage shed in conjunction with the quarrying activities was accepted in 1996. It was accepted that the operation of the plant could continue under a temporary permission to 30 November 2013 which at that time was the anticipated cessation date for mineral extraction at the quarry. In determining whether to permit an extension of time to operate the plant it is necessary to check whether or not any circumstances have changed to the site or its surroundings, or in terms of the policy considerations, since the latest planning permission was granted in 1996. The key material change relates to the permission for the quarry which has now been varied to extend the date for the cessation of mineral extraction to 30 November 2023. The permission to extend the use/ operation of the bagging sand products plant has also been extended to the same date. No other material changes to the site or the surroundings have taken place since 1996. In 2007 the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government saved the policies in the Minerals Local Plan referred to earlier. Whereas on 20 May 2013 the Government revoked the Regional Spatial Strategy for the West Midlands and the Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Structure Plan. In March 2012, the Government replaced a series of planning and minerals planning statements and guidance (e.g. Mineral Policy Statement 1 – Planning and Minerals) with the ‘National Planning Policy Framework’ (NPPF) and an accompanying Technical Guidance document. Section 13 of the NPPF indicates that ‘Minerals are essential to support sustainable economic growth and our quality of life’. The guidance indicates that when determining planning applications, local planning authorities should: ensure, that there are no unacceptable adverse impacts on the natural and historic environment, human health and that any unavoidable noise, dust and particle emissions are controlled, mitigated or removed at source. 4 In March 2014, Staffordshire Moorlands District Council adopted its Core Strategy, replacing the Staffordshire Moorlands Local Plan (adopted in 1998). It is considered that the relevant policies in the Core Strategy are not materially different to those previously considered in the Local Plan. It is reasonable to conclude that the proposals to extend the duration of the sand products plant alongside the extension to the duration of the quarry accord with the relevant saved policies in the Minerals Local Plan, the new policies in the Staffordshire Moorlands Core Strategy, the latest guidance in the NPPF, referred to above, and can be adequately controlled and mitigated through the imposition of the previous conditions, updated as necessary. Need to amend / update the Section 106 Legal Agreement When planning permission was granted for the bagging plant and storage shed a Section 106 legal agreement (S106) was signed. This S106 relates to the routeing of traffic to and from the site and measures to ensure that Heavy Commercial Vehicles follow the prescribed route (shown on plan CJ 7211 C attached to the S106). In determining this application it was appropriate to re-consider the requirements of the S106. Guidance is contained in the NPPF relating to planning conditions and obligations. Consideration should be given to whether otherwise unacceptable development could be made acceptable through the use of conditions or planning obligations. The guidance (paragraph 204) indicates that planning obligations should only be sought where they meet all of the following tests: • necessary to make the development acceptable in planning terms; • directly related to the development; and • fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the development. Minerals Local Plan saved policy 10 seeks where necessary that legal agreements are sought to control other matters relevant to the development which cannot be covered by planning conditions. Minerals Local Plan saved policy 31 also seeks to where necessary that legal agreements are sought to ensure mitigation for adverse off-site traffic effects. It was considered necessary to amend the existing S106 before planning permission to extend the cessation date for the quarry could be granted. Whilst no new requirements were identified, the opportunity has been taken to consolidate the three S106s affecting the site, the sand products plant and the bagging plant and storage shed at the same time.