Meeting documents

Venue: Mezzanine Rooms 1 & 2, County Hall, Aylesbury

Contact: Sally Taylor 

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Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for Absence / Changes in Membership

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Mrs A Cranmer.

2.

Declarations of Interest

To disclose any Personal, Disclosable or Prejudicial Pecuniary Interests.

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Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

3.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 156 KB

The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 14 January 2019, to be confirmed as a correct record.

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Minutes:

RESOLVED:  The minutes of the meeting held on 14 January 2019 were AGREED as an accurate record and were signed by the Chairman.

4.

CM/19/17 The importation, storage and onward distribution of rail borne aggregates together with the erection and use of a concrete batching plant and associated infrastructure pdf icon PDF 299 KB

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Minutes:

Mrs G Crossley, Development Management Officer, Buckinghamshire County Council (BCC), reminded Members that the application was first presented to the Committee in July 2018 where it was recommended for approval and members voted in favour of the officer’s recommendation with the addition of a road condition survey. It had come before the committee again for consideration due to the material changes that had occurred since the matter was considered in July 2018.

 

Mrs Crossley highlighted the following points:

 

         The site benefitted from permitted development rights [granted under The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015] to railway undertakers for the movement of traffic by rail.

         The landowner was Network Rail who was a Railway Undertaker.

         The applicant was Breedon Southern Limited who was not a Railway Undertaker.

         The concrete batching plant was not covered by the permitted development rights.

         The certificate of proposed lawful use or development may have caused some confusion.  This provided evidence of the permitted development rights but even without this the permitted development rights would exist and these were considered a fall-back in planning terms.

         The proposed development required planning permission which was why it was being presented to the Committee.

         The site was an existing railway siding which was safeguarded for rail use in the Core Strategy and in the emerging Local Plan.

         The site lay within the green belt and was considered inappropriate but very special circumstances applied.

         The key objections raised to the application were highways and air quality matters.

 

There were three main material changes that had occurred since the application was brought to the Committee last year:

 

         South Bucks District Council (SBDC) had declared the Iver Air Quality Management Area (AQMA).  SBDC Environmental Health Officers (EHO) were re-consulted on the application and they requested mitigation in the form of a contribution towards the progression of the Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP) (recommendation 4 should read ‘AQAP’ rather than Clean Air Zone)

         Damage Cost Calculation had been reviewed – used to quantify the financial cost of air quality pollutants (NO2 and PM10) generated by HGVs associated with the development, as there was no alternative mechanism. This methodology was originally suggested by Slough Borough Council (SBC) and agreed by the applicant as being an appropriate means of calculating the air quality impact. BCC had received contradictory views from the applicant and SBC and therefore were taking independent advice from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to ensure correct assessment was being made and adequate mitigation was sought.  The figure provided within the recommendation was put forward by the applicant following a request from Officer’s to use a particular category and other inputs as suggested by SBC and also to follow newly published guidance (January 2019). This figure (£39,841) was the latest at the time the report went to print. Since then, Mrs Crossley stated she had received further revised calculations from the applicant, SBC and DEFRA.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

CM/0077/18 - Variation of condition 18 of planning permission 11/20000/AWD (Energy from Waste Facility and associated development) to allow an increase in the maximum daily HGV movement from 276 per day (138 in, 138 out) to 600 per day (300 in, 300 out) pdf icon PDF 258 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

CM/0077/18 - Variation of condition 18 of planning permission 11/20000/AWD (Energy from Waste Facility and associated development) to allow an increase in the maximum daily HGV movement from 276 per day (138 in, 138 out) to 600 per day (300 in, 300 out)

 

Ms J Blake, Local Member, confirmed she would consider the application with an open mind.

 

Mrs E Catcheside, Planning Lead Officer, BCC stated that the reasons for the increase in the maximum daily HGV movement were set out in paragraphs 22-24 of the report.  There had been some objections received from the local residents and parish councils due to the highway impacts immediately surrounding the sites as well as the impact on the environment.  Mrs Catcheside stated that there had been extensive discussions with the Highway Authority, Ecology Advisers, Natural England and Environmental Health Officers at the district council and there were no objections outstanding.

 

Mrs Catcheside highlighted two points of clarification:

 

  • Paragraph four referred to the In-Vessel Composting Facility which did have its own planning consent but the movements to and from the site, if it was implemented, would form part of the current 276 or the proposed 600.
  • Paragraph 25 stated that "the HGV limit imposed by condition 18 had been breached periodically since planning permission was granted in 2012".  Mrs Catcheside clarified that the periodic breaches had taken place since the site became operational in 20 16 rather than 2012.

 

Mrs Catcheside presented photographs of the site, the access and the Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs).  Natural England had raised concerns in connection with the SSSIs but these had been overcome.

 

Members of the Committee raised and discussed the following points:

 

  • A Member of the Committee stated that significant controversy had occurred as the reason for the original recommendation of the limitation of traffic movements was to protect the environment of residential properties located on the transport routes of vehicles delivering waste to the Energy from Waste (EFW) Facility and therefore the movements were regulated to not exceed two hundred and seventy six.  The current application represented a vast increase.  The report had gone into great detail to explain environmental and residential concern and it would give members comfort to know why the facility was built in the first place.  Mrs Catcheside explained that the vehicle movement limitation was not requested by any technical consultees.  The movement limitations were proposed by the applicant and had formed the basis of the technical assessments submitted at the time therefore it was good practice to limit the movements to those proposed.  This application proposed to increase those vehicle movements quite substantially and this application had been accompanied by updated assessments which concluded that there would not be any significant adverse effects arising from the increase and this had been reviewed in terms of noise and air quality effects on local residents and there were no objections.

 

6.

Date of Next Meeting

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Minutes:

Monday 1 April 2019 at 9.30 am in Mezzanine Rooms 1 and 2, County Hall, Aylesbury.

7.

Exclusion of the Press and Public

To resolve to exclude the press and public as the following item is exempt by virtue of Paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12a of the Local Government Act 1972 because it contains information relating to an individual

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That the press and public be excluded for the following item which is exempt by virtue of Paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12a of the Local Government Act 1972 because it contains information relating to an individual.

8.

Confidential Minutes

9.

Enforcement Report