Agenda item

To consider a report of the Director of Economy, Transport and Environment regarding planning application for continued use for wood waste sorting, storage and transfer; highways salt store; bin storage; storage and transfer of waste fridges freezers; parking of HGVs and construction and operation of a wood processing area, operation of wood shredder and screener, construction of additional wood storage bays and overflow wood storage areas at Down End Quarry, Down End Road, Fareham

The Committee considered a report from the Head of Strategic Planning (Item 7 in the Minute Book) regarding an application for the continued use of the site for a range of waste related activities and the addition of wood processing, with shredding and screening, at Down End Quarry in Fareham.

The officer introduced the item, and it was confirmed that there was an amendment to Condition 11 as follows:

Within three months of the date of the installation of a wood shredder in accordance with this permission, noise monitoring shall be undertaken to compare the effects of the development with the predicted impacts within the Wood Shredder Noise Assessment (dated 9 June 2017) submitted with the application. The scope and duration of the monitoring shall be agreed in writing with the Waste Planning Authority prior to implementation and the results of the monitoring shall be submitted to the Waste Planning Authority within one month of being carried out. If the results of the monitoring indicate that impacts are at or above Lowest Observable Adverse Effect Level (Noise Policy Statement for England, 2010) then operation of the wood shredding process shall cease until such time as mitigation measures are undertaken to reduce the impact to below this level, in accordance with a mitigation scheme which has first been agreed in writing by the Waste Planning Authority. The approved measures shall be installed before operation of the wood shredding process recommences and shall be retained for the duration of the use.

Reason: In the interests of public amenity and to ensure the development is in accordance with Policy 10 (Protecting public health, safety and amenity) of the Hampshire Minerals and Waste Plan (2013).

A correction to the reference to the Town & Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations in paragraphs 1.4 and 4.8 was also reported.

A location plan was shown to Committee and the private haul road and SSSI were clearly marked. An aerial photograph showed the nearest properties. It was confirmed that wood shredding was being proposed as an additional activity at the site which would result in an increase of 15,000 tonnes of material being brought to the site, with an additional 20 HCV movements per day. Permanent permission for the site was being sought and the restoration of the site conditions remains as it was with the original application.

The Committee received one deputation on this item. Owen Dimond spoke on behalf of the applicant in support of the application. He told Committee that the applicant (Veolia) had many sites across Hampshire and that this was the primary site for wood waste and processing. Noise levels had never been an issue due to the background noise from the M27 motorway being quite high, but there were 4 metre concrete walls and shutter doors proposed to keep processing noise to a minimum. The revised Condition 11 required further noise monitoring to assess compliance and if additional mitigation was required, then operations would cease until the noise levels were found to be suitable. The applicant preferred the use of this condition rather than a temporary permission due to the up front investment costs involved. Veolia had a record of high standards of operation.

During questions of the deputations, the following points were clarified:

• “lowest observable adverse effect level” meant that the noise level was below that of the background noise.
• Down End Farm generally used local drivers and vehicles so there was minimum risk of the wrong roads being used.
• Temporary permission would not be suitable due to the amount of investment required as part of the application

During questions of the officers, the following points were clarified:

• Additional use on existing activity requires Hampshire County Council to approve.
• No comments had been received from Fareham Borough Council regarding the Local Plan Policy.
• To cease an operation (as permitted by the proposed Condition 11)  is a measure that has been used before by Hampshire County Council with other sites and provides additional safeguarding.

Some Members had concerns regarding the application being made permanent before the noise levels could be assessed. It was proposed and seconded that “the wood shredding process be permitted for a temporary period until 31 December 2019” to assess its impact. This was felt to be too strict and unnecessary by others Members of the Committee who believed that the proposed amended condition 11gave the necessary assurance and was lost on a vote.

RESOLVED:
The Head of Law and Governance be authorised to draw up a Section 106 Agreement to transfer the obligations relating to lorry routing in the existing Section 106 Agreement for planning permission P/13/0593/CC and subject to all parties entering into the Section 106 Agreement with the County Council then authority be delegated to the Director of Economy, Transport and Environment to GRANT planning permission subject to the amendment to Condition 11 and the Conditions set out in Integral Appendix B.

Voting:
Favour: 12 (unanimous)