DEVELOPMENT CONTROL AND REGULATORY BOARD

18TH NOVEMBER 2004

REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY SERVICES

1987/1099/07 - SUBMISSION OF DETAILS UNDER CONDITION 14 OF PLANNING PERMISSION 1987/1099/07 TO REPLACE EXISTING ASPHALT PLANT BARDON QUARRY, BARDON, COALVILLE (NORTH WEST LEICESTERSHIRE DISTRICT) 1987/1099/07- 9 AUGUST 2004 Background 1 Planning permission was granted for the extension of Bardon Quarry area,

construction of screen banks and overburden tips and restoration of Rookery Quarry on 3rd October 1989 and was subject to 87 planning conditions. Condition No 14 of this permission relates to the removal of permitted development rights and therefore any new plant, replacement plant, building, stocking or any other feature requires prior approval from the Mineral Planning Authority.

2. There are currently three asphalt plants at Bardon Quarry the Standard Havens

plant and Millars unit, which houses two asphalt plants. The Millars unit has been operational for thirty years and does not meet the company's economic and environmental standards. The company therefore wants to remove the Millars unit and replace it with one new asphalt plant with improved economic and environmental standards.

Location of Proposed Development 3. Bardon Quarry lies to the east of Bardon Village at the foot of Bardon Hill. The

nearest properties are Bradgate Drive and Bradgate Road, which bound the site to the north and Bardon Close, which bounds the site to the north west. Bardon Road (A511) bounds the site to the south west and agricultural land surrounds the site to the south and south east. Access to the site is via Bardon Road (A511).

4. The proposed replacement plant would be situated within the existing ancillary

development adjacent to the secondary tertiary processing plant.

H

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31987/1099/07 - continued Description of Proposal 5. Aggregate Industries have submitted details under condition 14 of Planning

Permission 1987/1099/07 to replace two existing asphalt plants housed in one unit with one new asphalt plant. Condition 14 of planning permission 1987/1099/07 requires the submission of details to be submitted to replace any plant or machinery on site. Conditions 14 read as follows:

Condition 14 “Except as may be otherwise approved in writing by the Mineral Planning Authority, notwithstanding the provisions of the Town and Country Planning General Development Order 1977, as amended, no building, plant, structures or machinery (excluding mobile plant and machinery) shall be erected or replaced on any part of the site and no additional open stocking, storage, loading, parking or other hard surfaced area or lagoons or tipping areas shall be created on any part of the site without prior approval in writing of the Mineral Planning Authority, given following the submission of details and plans showing the location and (where appropriate) external appearance of the buildings, plant, structures, machinery or other features to be erected, replaced or otherwise formed.”

6. The company proposes to remove the existing Millars unit which houses two asphalt plants and replace it with a new asphalt plant to improve the operational and environmental performance. The proposed new asphalt plant would have a greater productive capacity than the existing Millars unit, which currently produces 150,000 tonnes of asphalt per annum. If the new asphalt plant is permitted the company would reduce the use of the existing Standard Havens Plant by approximately 25% to improve overall environmental standards. The proposed new plant could produce 375,000 tonnes per annum providing a total of 637,000 tonnes of asphalt per annum including production of the Standard Havens. This is an increase of 137,000 tonnes per annum.

7. The proposed new asphalt plant is brand new with high environmental standards

and would be located to the north of the existing unit on land currently used for stocking aggregate, which is next to the secondary tertiary processing plant. The existing asphalt plant would not be removed until the proposed new asphalt plant is commissioned and fully operational. The proposed new plant has a maximum height of 36 metres and would be enclosed by profiled plastic coated steel sheeting to match the existing secondary / tertiary processing plant buildings adjacent. The proposed asphalt plant would be within the height of existing structures on site.

8. The Millars unit is currently fuelled by either gasoil or reclaimed fuel oil, the latter

of which has caused complaints in the past with regard to tingly tongue and smarting eyes. The proposed new asphalt plant would use natural gas, which would be imported to the site via a purpose constructed pipeline. This would be coupled straight into the new plant and also supplied into the Standard Haven unit. Gas would be supplied on demand. Natural gas is seen as a cleaner form of fuel, which reduces the possibility of complaints relating to odour and tingly tongue sensations. The natural gas would be used to fuel all asphalt plants on site.

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41987/1099/07 - continued 9. The new asphalt plant includes a fan, which is attached to the bottom of the

exhaust stack, which would be housed in an acoustic house to mitigate any noise impact. The asphalt plant would be fully enclosed and the mixer areas and plant building would be kept under slight negative pressure by extraction through fans installed within the bag house. The combined effect would be that emissions of dust from the plant would be negligible. The new asphalt plant would operate within the existing permitted hours, which is at any time.

Planning Policy 10. Minerals and Waste Disposal Policy 2: Environmental Impact, of the

Leicestershire Structure Plan states, when allocating land and considering planning applications for the extraction of minerals or for the disposal of waste materials or related development, account will be taken of its likely impact on the environment and the operational and economic needs for the development. Where development would cause demonstrable harm to interests of acknowledged importance, planning permission will normally only be granted where the need for development is sufficient to justify its environmental impact.

11. Policy 2 of Leicestershire Minerals Local Plan Review 1995 relates to proposal

for buildings. The policy states: Proposals for building, plant and other forms of construction or engineering works will be assessed in the light of the following considerations (i) the siting and visual appearance of the development including its height, scale and colour (ii) screening of the development (iii) the extent to which the development will contribute to an improvement in the efficiency of mineral working (iv) the character of the surrounding area (v) the design of the development and the anticipated generation of noise and dust or any other nuisance.

12. Policy 3 Environmental Considerations of Leicestershire Minerals Local Plan

Review 1995 states: Unless there is an overriding need or the impact can be alleviated by appropriate measures, proposal for mineral working will not normally be permitted in the following instances: (h) Where insufficient capacity is available on the local or wider road system for the traffic that is expected to be generated unless satisfactory improvements can be implemented (i)The development including its associated traffic movements would have an unacceptable impact on local residential amenity

13. Policy 32 of the Minerals Local Plan Review 1995 relates to Industrial

Development associated with the processing of extracted minerals. The assessment of proposals for ancillary development for the minerals industry in close proximity to extraction sites should have particular regard to their environmental and transportation effects. It also provides that the County Council will attach planning conditions requiring that the use of the plant shall cease on the cessation of mineral extraction to which the development is linked and the plant is cleared and the land restored

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51987/1099/07 - continued Consultations North West Leicestershire District Council (Planning) 14. No Comment North West Leicestershire District Council (Environmental Health) 15. Verbal response - Written response to follow.

The District Environmental Health Officer does not have any objection to the replacement asphalt plant on the understanding adequate environmental controls are put in place. The Environmental Health Officer suggests that a noise monitoring scheme is produced to ensure the demolition, construction and operation of the asphalt plant does not exceed permitted noise limits and mitigation measures are put in place. The scheme should also specify noise levels at noise sensitive properties A dust monitoring scheme is also advised and this could be co-ordinated with the results of the current PM10 dust monitoring currently being undertaken by the company in association with North West Leicestershire District Council. As the Environmental Health Officer has received complaints with regard to odour in the past associated with the asphalt production and although the problem should reduce with the introduction of natural gases a condition is suggested to ensure odour nuisance does not go beyond the boundary of the site.

Highway Authority 16. Access to the site is off the A511. It is particularly busy (a traffic survey in 2003

revealed approximately 17500 vehicles (two way over a 12h period) use this section). My records also reveal that there have been 14 recorded personal injury accidents in the vicinity of the site access (including 2 fatal) in the past 5 years. Given the figures put forward as part of the application, the applicant states that the proposal will result in less than a 5% increase in traffic when considering maximum tonnages. The plant has the ability to produce even greater levels as can the Standard Haven.

However, considering the existing traffic on Bardon Road coupled with the accident record, to permit the proposal with the increase of traffic would exacerbate an unsatisfactory situation in terms of highway safety and therefore should be resisted unless mitigation measures can be put in place, i.e. an upgrade the access and section of road.

It is the view of the Highway Authority that given road/ traffic conditions any increase in traffic would not be in the interest of road safety and would therefore be unacceptable. If the applicant could restrict output whereby it was in line with current levels then the highway Authority would not object.

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61987/1099/07 - continued Environment Agency 17. No objection Bardon Parish Council 18. No objection Battleflat and Ellistown 19. No response received at the time this report was published

Assessment of Proposal

20. The proposed replacement asphalt plant submitted under condition 14 of planning permission 1987/1099/07 should be assessed in accordance with the Development Plan and its environmental impacts. Odour

21. The existing plant, which comprises of two asphalt unit's, has been on site for over 30 years and only one unit is operational. Due to the age of the plant problems have occurred on site and complaints have been received with regard to odour. The company has tried to resolve these complaints by adding a masking agent, which has reduced some of the odours present. The proposed replacement asphalt plant includes the introduction of natural gas to fuel all asphalt production on site, which should further reduce odour. Although odour nuisance should be negligible on site North West Leicestershire Environmental Health Officer suggests a condition be attached to ensure any offensive odours do not leave the site boundary.

Noise 22. The proposed replacement asphalt is a modern design with environmental

technologies incorporated to reduce noise pollution and dust nuisance. The new plant has been designed to minimise the impact of noise and the Environmental Health Officer at North West Leicestershire does not anticipate any noise levels to be exceed. However I feel that a noise scheme to assess existing noise levels and future levels should be placed as a condition to ensure that the plant does not exceed approved noise limits for the site of 54 LAeq at 130 Bradgate Drive or cause any noise complaints or nuisance. The approved noise scheme and limits for the site is over 12 years old and its is felt a new scheme would take into consideration the current background noise levels and operations on site. The proposed noise scheme would take into consideration the continued operational time of asphalt production on site in accordance with condition 20 (d) of the existing planning permission, identify additional properties in the area and noise limits for day and night operations. The proposed noise scheme would ensure modern limits and monitoring are imposed.

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71987/1099/07 - continued Dust 23. The existing planning permission has a dust scheme to ensure that dust levels

do not cause a nuisance to the surrounding area. Limited dust mitigation measures were approved under planning permission 1987/1099/07 (condition 17), which stated that conveyors and mixing plant be enclosed & bag filter units are used. The company has continued to improve their environmental standards and dust minimisation on site to meet ISO 14001 and the proposed replacement asphalt plant would be another improvement. The proposed plant should improve on site dust minimisation as it includes the best techniques available to maintain air quality. The proposed new asphalt plant would be completely housed and dust emissions would be prevented by the use of seals and an air scavenging system maintaining a negative pressure within the plant, to ensure that dust emissions would be negligible. The company have not undertaken any additional dust monitoring specific to the proposed new plant but they are currently undertaking an extensive dust monitoring scheme regarding the whole site to ensure PM 10 levels are not exceeded and are reduced in anticipation for changing legislation. The results of this monitoring will be completed by the end of the year and any additional mitigation measures could be implemented through a proposed dust scheme.

Traffic Implications 24. Although the production of the Standard Havens would be reduced the proposed

new plant would lead to in an increase in production of asphalt on site. This increase in production would have an impact on the traffic movements related to the asphalt production on site. The increase of 137,000 tonnes per annum of asphalt would result in a 5% increase of vehicle movements. The Highway Authority finds any increase unacceptable without mitigation measures and improvement to the highway infrastructure.

25. Due to the concerns raised by the Highway Authority regarding the increase in

traffic movements a meeting was held with the applicant and Highway Authority to discuss implications of increased vehicle movements on the surrounding highway network. It was agreed at the meeting that the A511 is a busy road and has encountered various accidents within the last 5 years, any increase in vehicle movements could lead to a rise of accidents in the area. It was agreed that the exit of the site is satisfactory but the entrance of the site causes problem's, as lorries have to cross oncoming traffic with no waiting area. The company do not want to increase accidents on the A511 and they have offered to improve the road safety of the site entrance by introducing a right hand turn lane once a trigger level has been reached. The company propose that once asphalt production reaches 550,000 tonnes the proposed right hand turn lane would be implemented.

26. The introduction of a right hand turn lane is welcomed and would improve road

safety but the trigger limit the company suggested relates only to the asphalt production which is approximately 20% of vehicles that leave the site. Therefore vehicle movements from other operations on site could continue to increase prior

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to the asphalt production trigger level being reached. Notwithstanding that It was agreed that asphalt production is limited to 500,000 tonnes per year, which is about the average rate of asphalt production in the last 5 years at Bardon Quarry. This limit would then be reviewed once the right hand turn lane has been implemented.

27. Bardon Quarry is subject to a Periodic Review of Old Mineral Planning

Permissions under the Environmental Act 1995 in April 2005. The periodic review would be accompanied by an Environmental Assessment, and it is envisaged that the traffic issues relating to the whole site amougst other things would be addressed then.

Visual Impact 28. The proposed plant would be located within the existing site and surrounded by

large ancillary plant. The proposed plant is slightly larger than the existing Millars unit but would be within the height of the existing structures on site. The proposed plant would be a British Steel Goosewing Grey the same colour as the secondary Tertiary plant therefore no additional visual impact would be caused to the surrounding area.

Conclusion

29. The replacement asphalt plant would improve the environmental standards of

asphalt production on site and would not be visually intrusive outside the site. With adequate environmental controls in place there should be no adverse environmental impact on surrounding properties. Production levels can be controlled to historic levels and therefore there should be no additional traffic movements from asphalt production until further road improvements have been implemented through the review process.

Recommendation

A. Permit subject to the following conditions B. To endorse, as required by the Town and Country Planning (General

Development Procedure) Order 1995 (as amended) a summary of the:

(i) Policies and proposals in the development plan which are relevant to the decision, as follows:

This application has been determined in accordance with the Town and

Country Planning Acts, and in the context of the Government's current planning policy guidance and the relevant Circulars, together with the relevant Development Plan Polices, including the following and those referred to under specific conditions as set out in the appendix:-

(Policy 2 Leicestershire Structure Plan Written Statement 1996 to 2016) (Policy 4 & 5 of the Leicestershire Mineral Local Plan)

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(ii) Reasons for the grant of planning permission as follows:

The County Council is of the opinion that the proposed development gives rise to no material harm, is in accordance with the development plan and that there are no material consideration that indicate that the decision should be made otherwise. The County Council also considers that any harm to the amenities of the area as a result of the proposed development would reasonably be mitigated by the imposition of the conditions as set out in the appendix.

Background Papers Planning Permission 1987/1099/07 Circulation Under Sensitive Issues Procedures Mr P A Hyde, CC Mr. C.A. Stanley, CC Officers to Contact Miss. K. Wills (Tel. 0116 265 7043) E-Mail: planningcontrol@leics.gov.uk __________________________________________________________________

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10 APPENDIX Conditions 1. Unless otherwise approved by the Director of Community Services the

development hereby approved shall be carried out in accordance the submitted details dated 9th August 2004 and letter dated 8th September 2004.

2. Unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Director of Community Services the use

of the new asphalt plant shall have ceased by the 31st December 2028 and the land shall have been restored in line with the master restoration scheme for the whole site.

3. Written notification of the date that the approved asphalt plant commenced

productive operation shall be sent to the Director of Community Services within 7 days of such commencement.

4. Within 6 months from the date of this permission a noise monitoring scheme shall

be submitted to the Director of Community Services for his written approval. The scheme shall include:-

a. Existing and proposed noise levels b. Noise monitoring locations c. Frequency of measurements d. Presentation and analysis of results e. Procedures to be adopted if agreed noise limits are breached

Once approved all noise monitoring shall be undertaken in accordance with the approved scheme unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Director of Community Services.

5. A dust monitoring scheme shall be submitted to the Director of Community

Services within 6 months from the date of this permission. The scheme shall include:-

a. A methodology of dust monitoring including type of equipment to be used b. Dust monitoring locations c. Monitoring frequency d. Presentation and analysis of results e. Procedure to be adopted to control dust emissions. f. Measure to be taken to monitor rainfall, wind speed, direction and

temperature The scheme shall be implemented as approved unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Director of Community Services.

6. In the event of any complaint being received regarding odour from the site, the

operator shall inform the Director of Community Services within 24 hours. If, in the opinion of the Director of Community Services, it is considered that the complaint warrants further investigation, a report shall be submitted to him. Where necessary, a scheme of mitigation measures shall be submitted to and approved by the Director of Community Services and subsequently implemented. The scheme of measures shall seek to mitigate the effects of the operation that gave rise to the original complaint.

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111987/1099/07 - continued 7. Unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Director of Community Services the

replacement asphalt plant shall be clad in British Steel Goosewing Grey colour. 8. Production from the asphalt plants shall not exceed 500,000 tonnes per any

calendar year. 9. Asphalt production figure shall be provided in writing to the Director of Community

Services on a quarterly basis. Such figures shall be provided to the Director of Community Services within one month of the end of each quarter. The first quarter shall be 3 months from when the asphalt plant hereby approved came into productive operations thereafter each quarter will be 3 calendar months.

Reasons 1 To comply with Section 91 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. (MLP

Policy 5) 2&3 To enable the MPA to adequately control the development and to ensure that

the land is restored to a condition capable of beneficial afteruse. (MLP Policy 5)

4 To ensure minimum disturbance from operations and avoidance of nuisance

to the local community OR to minimise the adverse impact of noise generated by the operations on the local community. (MLP Policy 3 &5)

5&6 To protect the amenities of local residents. (MLP Policy 3 &5) 7 In the interests of the amenity of the local area and to ensure the

development is adequately screened. (MLP Policy 3) 8&9 In the interests of highway safety and safeguarding the local environment.

MLP Policy 3) Note to Applicant It is expected that the Review of Mineral Permissions at Bardon Quarry will review overall traffic movements and access arrangements at the quarry and the restrictions in condition 8 will apply until the review is completed.

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DEVELOPMENT CONTROL AND REGULATORY BOARD The considerations set out below apply to all preceding applications. EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES IMPLICATIONS Unless otherwise stated in the report there are no discernible equal opportunities implications. IMPLICATIONS FOR DISABLED PERSONS On all educational proposals the Director of Education and the Director of Property will be informed as follows: Note to Applicant Department Your attention is drawn to the provisions of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Person’s Act 1970 and the Design Note 18 “Access for the Disabled People to Educational Buildings” 1984. You are advised to contact the County Council’s Assistant Personnel Officer (Disabled People) if you require further advice on this aspect of the proposal. BACKGROUND PAPERS Unless otherwise stated in the report the background papers used in the preparation of this report are available on the relevant planning application files. SECTION 54A OF TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING ACT 1990 Members are reminded that Section 54A of the 1990 Act requires that: “Where, in making any determination under the Planning Acts, regard is to be had to the development plan, the determination shall be made in accordance with the plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise.” Any relevant provisions of the development plan (i.e. the Structure Plan or any approved Local Plans) are identified in the individual reports. The circumstances in which the Board is required to “have regard” to the development plan are: Section 70(2) : determination of applications; Section 77(4) : called-in applications (applying s. 70); Section 79(4) : planning appeals (applying s. 70); Section 81(3) : provisions relating to compensation directions by Secretary of State (this

section is repealed by the Planning and Compensation Act 1991); Section 91(2) : power to vary period in statutory condition requiring development to be

begun; Section 92(6) : power to vary applicable period for outline planning permission; Section 97(2) : revocation or modification of planning permission; Section 102(1) : discontinuance orders; Section 172(1) : enforcement notices (the phrase occurs also in the new s. 172 which is

substituted by the Planning and Compensation Act 1991, but not in the new provisions relating to planning contravention notices (new s. 171C) and breach of condition notices (new s. 187A);

Section 177(2) : Secretary of State’s power to grant planning permission on enforcement appeal;

Section 226(2) : compulsory acquisition of land for planning purposes; Section 294(3) : special enforcement notices in relation to Crown land; Sched. 9 para (1) : minerals discontinuance orders.