Issue - meetings

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Officer (Planning and Environment) in respect of this application which had been the subject of a site visit following deferral at the last meeting. The usual consultations had been undertaken and the responses received detailed in the report.  Additional comments received since the preparation of the report were circulated at the meeting.          

                        The proposed Integrated Waste Management Facility (IWMF) comprised: a commercial and industrial waste materials recycling facility, a construction waste recycling facility, and a contaminated soils treatment facility.

All of the issues raised at the last meeting which formed the basis of a deferral were addressed in the report.  The officer made particular comments on the concerns that had been raised on the impact of the development on the Public Right of Way (PROW) by the Ramblers Association at the last meeting.  The PROW ran along the private estate road which would serve the development, and which also served a number of different industrial uses including Pinfold Lane Quarry which was owned by the applicant.  The road was already used by Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) and would have accommodated quarry traffic in addition to industrial traffic whilst Stoneybeach quarry was operational.  The Public Rights of Way (PROW) officer had not objected to the proposal on the basis of the impact of the PROW and advised, in particular, that it was common for a PROW to be used by vehicles where a right to do so existed.  Due to the width of the road it was considered that the development would have no greater impact on users of the PROW than existing users.  The applicant proposed to install a weighbridge and office facilities along the private road which could impact on the PROW and may necessitate a temporary closure whilst construction works were being undertaken.

Mr H. White spoke against the application on the following grounds: public rights of way (PROW) users would be affected by the quantity of lorry traffic; applicant failed to consider the issue in the environmental statement originally submitted and was not proposing any mitigating actions; impact of lorry traffic was unacceptable on the path; up to 12 lorries per hour on the path; modern policies supported PROW; 400m access track was recorded as a public path which was the width of former track and been progressively widened over time; constructive meeting with officers on site and clarified site history, definitive path line and how it had altered over the years by the developer.  Also he had drafted a condition should Members wish to have sight of it.

Councillor Butler proposed the officer recommendation for approval which was duly seconded. He said whilst he supported the application he did have some concerns on the weighbridge and agreed with the mitigation measures as outlined in the report.

Councillor Ellis also agreed with the areas of mitigation in relation to the weighbridge and suggested a barrier to protect to the public from vehicles turning.  On the highway improvement works which  ...  view the full minutes text for item 135