Agenda item

The Committee considered a County Matter planning application for a proposed retrospective Change of Use from a Workshop to a Waste Transfer Station for Metals at Unit 5, Moorlands Farm, Manor Lane, Waresley, Hartlebury, Worcestershire.

The report set out the background of the proposal, the proposal itself, the relevant planning policy and details of the site, consultations and representations.

The report set out the Head of Strategic Infrastructure and Planning's comments in relation to Waste Hierarchy, Location of the Development, Green Belt, Residential Amenity, Ecology and Biodiversity, and Other Matters – Economic impact.

The Head of Strategic Infrastructure and Planning concluded that the application was seeking to regularise the material change of use at the site which occurred over 1 year ago. The applicant had been operating since May 2017 under an Environment Agency T9 Waste Exemption for recovering scrap metal.

The Head of Strategic Infrastructure and Economy had examined the Waste Hierarchy, Location of the development, Green Belt, Residential Amenity, Ecology and Biodiversity, and Other Matters (Economic Impact).

In terms of the waste hierarchy, the Head of Strategic Infrastructure and Economy considered that the proposal would enable the recycling of metals, would contribute to Objective WO3 of the Worcestershire Waste Core Strategy, and accord with the National Planning Policy for Waste's requirement for waste planning authorities to drive waste management up the waste hierarchy.

In terms of location, the Head of Strategic Infrastructure and Economy considered that the proposal would be located at the highest level of the geographic hierarchy for waste in Level 1 and that it would, therefore, accord with Policy WCS3 of the Worcestershire Waste Core Strategy. In addition, the Head of Strategic Infrastructure and Economy considered that the proposal would accord with Policy WCS6 because the existing redundant agricultural building housing the waste transfer station would be a compatible land use for an enclosed waste transfer facility according to Table 7 of the Policy.

In terms of Green Belt, the Head of Strategic Infrastructure and Economy considered that the proposal would not constitute inappropriate development in the Green Belt for the purposes of Paragraph 143 of the NPPF. An exercise, therefore, had to be undertaken to determine whether any other harm to the Green Belt would occur as a result of the proposal because Planning Authorities were required to give substantial weight to harm to the Green Belt in accordance with Paragraph 144 of the NPPF. In this regard, the Head of Strategic Infrastructure and Economy considered that that the proposal would not cause any harm to the Green Belt due to the proposal for waste transfer activities to take place wholly within the existing metal shed unit at the site, apart from vehicle parking during business hours, the loading and unloading of waste, and the collection of skips. Because of this, it was considered that there would be no harm to openness, or to the purposes of including land within the Green Belt. The Head of Strategic Infrastructure and Economy, therefore, considered that the proposal would be acceptable in terms of Green Belt.

The Head of Strategic Infrastructure and Economy considered a number of issues relating to residential amenity including noise, conditions for controlling amenity impact, visual impact, and amenity impacts on the Highway. It was considered that there would be no unacceptable adverse impacts on amenity as a result of the proposal and that it would, therefore, accord with the development plan, subject to conditions.

In terms of Ecology and Biodiversity, the Head of Strategic Infrastructure and Economy considered that a suitably worded condition requiring the installation of bird and bat boxes would result in the proposal according with the relevant development plan policies for biodiversity enhancement.

Finally, the Head of Strategic Infrastructure and Economy considered that the proposal would accord with the NPPF's aim to build a strong competitive economy as set out in Section 6 of the NPPF.

Taking in to account the provisions of the Development Plan and in particular Policies WCS 1, WCS 2, WCS 3, WCS 6, WCS 8, WCS 9, WCS 10, WCS 11, WCS 12, WCS 13, WCS 14 and WCS 15 and WCS 17 of the Worcestershire Waste Core Strategy and Policies SWDP 1, SWDP 2, SWDP 4, SWDP 5, SWDP 8, SWDP 12, SWDP 21, SWDP 22, SWDP 25, SWDP 28, SWDP 29, SWDP 30, SWDP 31 and SWDP 33 of the South Worcestershire Development Plan, it was considered the proposal would not cause demonstrable harm to the interests intended to be protected by these policies or highway safety.

The representative of the Head of Strategic Infrastructure and Planning introduced the report and indicated that no comments had been received from the local councillor.

In the ensuing debate, the following principal points were raised:

·         If planning permission was granted, would there be an issue in relation to the licensing of the operations on the site? The representative of the Head of Strategic Infrastructure and Planning responded that the applicant had a T9 Waste Exemption for recovering scrap metal, issued by the EA

·         How would any potential unauthorised trading on the site be monitored? The representative of the Head of Strategic Infrastructure and Planning advised that compliance with that license was a matter for Wychavon District Council

·         The main concern was the location of the application site in the Green Belt. The Head of Strategic Infrastructure and Planning had explained in the report that the applicant was proposing continuous use in an existing building which was considered to be in a suitable location. In addition, the site would be monitored by the Environment Agency therefore the application should be approved.

RESOLVED thatplanning permission be granted for proposed retrospective Change of Use from a Workshop to a Waste Transfer Station for Metals at Unit 5, Moorlands Farm, Manor Lane, Waresley, Hartlebury, Worcestershire subject to the following conditions:

Details

a)    The development hereby permitted shall be carried out in accordance with the details shown on the following submitted Drawings, except where otherwise stipulated by conditions attached to this permission:

·         "Location Plan" (Project Number: 2027), which was submitted to the County Planning Authority on 05/06/2018; and

·         "Planning Drawing" (Drawing No. 2027/P1), which was submitted to the County Planning Authority on 28/03/2018

Ecology and Biodiversity Enhancement

b)    Within 6 months of the date of this planning permission, the specifications and locations of one Sparrow nesting terrace and one Bat box shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the County Planning Authority. It must be demonstrated that the Sparrow nesting terrace and Bat box would not be disturbed by external lighting. The Sparrow nesting terrace shall be erected on the northern end of Unit 5 identified on the Drawing titled "Block Plan" (Project Number: 2027), which was submitted to the County Planning Authority on 28/03/2018, whilst the Bat box shall be erected on the southern end of Unit 5. Following approval, the Sparrow nesting terrace and Bat box shall be installed in accordance with the approved specifications and locations within 3 months;

Vehicle Access and Parking

c)    Vehicle Access to the site shall only be from Manor Lane. Parking and turning arrangements shall be maintained in accordance with the Drawing titled "Location Plan" (Project Number: 2027), which was submitted to the County Planning Authority on 05/06/2018;

Vehicle Routing

d)    When commercial vehicles are exiting the site on to Manor Lane to access the Local Road Network, they shall turn right towards the A449. A sign shall be erected at the site within 28 days of the date of this permission directing commercial vehicles exiting the site to turn right towards the A449;

Throughput

e)    The annual throughput of material through the site shall be limited to a maximum of 158 tonnes per annum and records shall be kept and made available to the County Planning Authority on written request for the duration of operations at the site;

Equipment

f)     Only non-powered hand tools shall be used in connection with processing materials at the site;

Outside Storage

g)    No materials, including skips or storage containers, shall be stored outside the confines of the Unit 5 Workshop building (identified on the Drawing titled "Location Plan" (Project Number: 2027), submitted to the County Planning Authority on 05/06/2018) outside of the approved operating hours or overnight;

Hours of Operation

h)    The development hereby approved shall only operate between the hours of 09:00 to 17:00 Monday to Friday and 09:00 to 12:00 on Saturdays. No operations shall take place on Sundays, Bank Holidays, or Public Holidays; and

External Lighting

i)     Prior to the installation of any lighting not permitted by this permission, a lighting strategy shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the County Planning Authority. The  lighting strategy shall include the following details:

                      i.        A detailed lumen contour plan which shows predicted intensity and the spread of any new external lighting;

                    ii.        Measures to ensure that new external lighting will avoid negatively impacting on bird nesting terraces and bat boxes and/or their occupants at the site; and

                   iii.        Measures to ensure that new external lighting will be controlled by Passive Infra-Red (PIR) or timers so that they are not in use outside of working hours

Thereafter the development shall be carried out in accordance with the approved lighting strategy.