Agenda No. 2
HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
DEVELOPMENT CONTROL COMMITTEE
TUESDAY 20 NOVEMBER 2012 AT 10AM
Report of the Chief Executive and Director Environment
Contact: Chay Dempster Tel: 01992 556211
Local Member: Roger Beeching and Leanda Newlyn
Proposed scheme for the final restoration of Pole Hole Quarry involving the temporary retention of the inert waste recycling plant and associated infrastructure in association with the final restoration AT Pole Hole Quarry, Eastwick Road, Gilston, Harlow, Herts CM20 2RN
1. Purpose of Report
1.1 To consider planning application 3/1232-12 for the final restoration and closure of Pole Hole Quarry with imported inert waste.
2. Summary
2.1 This application proposes the final restoration and closure of Pole Hole Quarry within three years and the temporary retention of the recycled aggregate processing plant in connection with the restoration for one year.
2.2 The application site comprises a 19ha parcel of land between the River Stort and Eastwick Road (C161 Eastwick Road).
2.3 Pole Hole Quarry is a former mineral extraction which was lanfilled with municipal waste in the 1970’s and has had permission for restoration with imported material in 1986. Under that permission tipping only took place on the eastern side of the site and the site was never fully restored. As a consequence the site has a poor appearance comprising two distinctly different landforms, with a raised dome on the eastern side of the site and a gently sloping aspect on the western side of the site.
2.4 In 2011 planning permission was refused for a different scheme for the final restoration and closure of the quarry. The current application seeks to overcome the reasons for refusal by proposing a shorter timescale (three years instead of five) and lower volume of imported material (80,000 cubic metres instead of 127,000 cubic metres) to complete the restoration.
2.5 The proposal involves approximately 44 HGV (22 in/22 out) movements per day.
2.6 The main planning issues are Green Belt, landscape, pollution, amenity, restoration and aftercare, and cumulative impact
3. Conclusion
3.1 The report concludes that the importation of additional soil material is inappropriate development and would have a slight impact on openness. However it would achieve the final closure and restoration of the quarry and return the land to a beneficial afteruse within a reasonable timescale.
3.2 The proposal would impact on residential amenity and visual and landscape during operations, however these impacts would be temporary and can be mitigated through conditions to control working methods and limited working hours.
3.3 The HGV traffic generated during construction would not change significantly compared to the current level of activity, which is substantially less than past levels.
3.4 Other considerations are that an acceptable restoration could be completed within a reasonable timescale and the volume of material proposed would provide a reasonable quantity of material necessary to finalise the restoration.
3.5 On balance of the relevant planning considers, the positive aspects of the scheme are considered to outweigh the harm, by inappropriateness and other harm.
3.6 It is therefore recommended that planning permission is granted subject to the following conditions
1. Three year time limit
2. Completion of restoration by May 2015
3. Processing plant (1) operations to cease by January 2014
4. Processing plant (2 retention and use linked to restoration of Pole Hole Quarry only
5. Lorry movements restricted to 44 (22 in/22 out) Monday to Friday
6. Site survey for Area B and Area C to be submitted within 3 months
7. Restoration phasing plan to be submitted
8. Aftercare scheme supplementary scheme to be submitted
9. Dust management scheme to be submitted
10. Landscaping scheme to be submitted
11. Mud on highway
12. Right of Way closure scheme to be submitted
13. Hours of operation Monday to Friday 7am to 6pm
14. Removal of permitted development rights
15. Pre/ post Settlement Contour Levels to comply with submitted plans
16. Existing site level markers: 1m markers to be erected on site
17. Topsoil depth/levels to comply with submitted scheme
18. Waste types only clean inert soils shall be used
19. Soil handling (1) no topsoil shall be removed from site
20. Soil handling (2) shall take place when soils are dry and friable
21. Soil movement the LPA shall be given 7 days notice of soil movement
22. Noise (1) not to exceed 65dB during normal operations
23. Noise (2) not exceed 70dB for temporary operations
24. Plant and machinery maintenance to be in accordance with manufacturers specifications
25. Access only existing access shall be used
26. Land reinstatement removal of haul roads etc. within 3 months of the end of operations
27 Annual Aftercare reports to be submitted
4. Background
4.1 The application site is located north of Harlow between the villages of Gilston and High Wych on the Eastwick Road (C161), as shown on the attached site location plan. The site is located entirely within the Metropolitan Green Belt.
4.2 Footpath 31 bisects the site from north to south linking Eastwick Road with the River Stort valley.
4.3 The site is located within an area of former mineral workings. The adjoining land to the east is another former mineral working (Hollingson Meads) which has been restored to grassland and open water.
4.4 Pole Hole Quarry comprises a former minerals quarry that was landfilled using municipal waste throughout the 1970s. In 1986 planning permission was granted for the restoration of the site involving the importation of waste soil material to create a domed landform.
4.5 The restoration was never completed although a substantial volume of material was tipped between the Pole Hole Brook and the Footpath 31. The east side of the site has remained in a derelict condition since. The west side of the site has been used for horse grazing but it is poor quality with clear signs of differential settlement.
5. Site history
5.1 In 1951 planning permission was granted for sand & gravel extraction (reference E/790-51).
5.2 In 1960 planning permission for landfill using household waste was granted (reference E/245-60) and operations continued throughout the 1970s.
5.3 In 1986 planning permission was given for landfill using inert waste (reference 3/226-86). Under this permission completion was required by 1990, however during the works properties on Eastwick Road were found to be affected by landfill gas migration and consequently works ceased around that time and the site has subsequently remained in an un-restored condition.
5.4 In 1997 the County Council issued a planning permission with a new set of planning conditions under the Review of Minerals Planning Permission to control the operation and final closure of the site. The appeal against the new conditions was never determined by the Secretary of State, so the RoMMP conditions are effectively obsolete.
5.5 Planning permission was granted on appeal in 2004 for the temporary retention of the silt lagoons (reference 3/2371-04), the haul road (reference 3/2313-04) and processing plant (reference 3/2372-04) for three years (to complete the restoration of the adjoining site, Hollingson Meads Quarry).
5.6 In 2008 planning permission was refused for the retention of the processing plant, silt lagoons, and haul road until 2011 for use in connection with the ongoing restoration of Hollingson Meads.
5.7 In December 2011 planning permission was refused for a scheme for the final restoration and closure of Pole Hole Quarry. The application proposed the importation of an additional 127,000 cubic metres of inert material over five years. The reasons for refusal relate to: (1) excessive volumes of materials proposed to complete the restoration (2) insufficient information to assess impacts on groundwater and landfill gas (3) insufficient justification for the retention of the processing plant (4) inappropriate development and (5) harm the openness of the Green Belt (related to retention of the processing plant); and (6) additional volumes of HGV traffic generated through Gilston and High Wych.
5.8 In February 2012 the operator started to import soils on the east side of the site. No planning permission currently exists for these works.
5.9 This application proposes to regularise the works since the start of 2012 and for planning permission to restore the west side of the site on the former town tip.
5.10 The current application aims to overcome the reasons for refusal by proposing lower volumes of imported material, a shorter timescale to complete the restoration, and a shorter timescale for the retention of the processing plant.
6. Application site and surroundings
6.1 The application site comprises a 19ha parcel land between the River Stort and Eastwick Road (C161 Eastwick Road).
6.2 The site forms a parcel of land between Pole Hole Brook in the east, houses on Eastwick Road to the north and west and the River Stort floodplain to the south. Footpath 31 runs from Eastwick Road in the north to the River Stort floodplain in the south and runs down the middle of the site between Area A and Area B.
6.3 The site is divided into four main areas:
Area A – is the land between Footpath 31 and the western boundary. This part of the site consists of an area of poorly restored former landfill site. This area of land has a poor covering of soil and has areas of uneven ground as a result of differential settlement. The levels slope from north east to south west. The land in this part of the site is currently used to graze horses.
Area B – is the land between Pole Hole Brook and footpath 31 on the east side of the site. This land was tipped with imported soils during the second half of the 1980’s which resulted in a raised landform with steep southern slopes. On the west side of Area B the land drops sharply (up to 6m in places) to join Area A.
Area C – is the land north east of Area B that backs on to an adjoining property, Pole Hill. As with Area B, there has been recent importation of soils which has raised levels to approximately the same level as is proposed by this application.
Area D – lies to the east of Pole Hole Brook. This part of the site is occupied by the processing plant. Restoration of this part of the site forms part of the approved restoration scheme for Hollingson Meads Quarry.
7. The Proposal
7.1 The proposal is to carry out a complete and final restoration of the quarry using imported inert fill material (recovered soils) and existing material on site (in storage). The application proposes to import an additional 90,000 cubic meters of soils consisting of 25,000 cubic metres of topsoil and 65,000 cubic meters of subsoil.
7.2 The final soil profile will be made up of 600mm subsoil and 250mm topsoil. The topsoil will be screened and any waste material recovered and removed.
7.3 The processing plant would be retained for one year in order to recover sufficient soils and substitute materials from construction, demolition and excavation wastes for the restoration. The secondary aggregate produced from that process would be exported.
Phasing and working methodology
7.4 The restoration plan divides the site into 6 individual phases, as shown on the attached phasing plan.
7.5 The operator has already imported sufficient material to complete Phases 1 to 4. Therefore the existing levels correspond broadly with the levels proposed by this application excluding topsoil. The majority of topsoil required for Area A and Area B is in storage bunds on the east side of the site.
7.6 The only works required in Phases 1-4 is to rip the soils to a depth of 450mm followed by the removal of any objects greater than 150mm. The topsoil will then be spread to a depth of 300mm, treated with a layer of organic material, cultivated and grass seeded.
7.6 There has been no work in Phases 5 and 6. The proposal involves the importation of additional 4,600 cubic metres of subsoil and 2,000 cubic metres of topsoil in Phase 5 and 18,000 cubic metres of subsoil and 7,400 cubic metres of topsoil in Phase 6.
7.7 Phase 7 is the processing plant area which is covered by the restoration scheme under the Holligson Meads site.
7.9 The proposed afteruse is grazing for horses. No further sand and gravel extraction will take place.
7.10 The soil balance for each phase is shown in Table 1.
Phase 1(1.7h a) / 900cu.m topsoil
Phase 2
(1.7ha) / 700cu.m topsoil
Phase 3
(2.6ha) / 15,000cu.m (subsoil) 6,300cu.m (topsoil)
Phase 4
(2.3ha) / 14,900cu.m (subsoil) 6,300 cu.m (topsoil)
Phase 5
(0.8ha) / 4,600 cu.m (subsoil) 2,000cu.m (topsoil)
Phase 6
(9ha) / 18,000cu.m (subsoil) 7,400cu.m (topsoil)
Table 1 – Soils Balance (in each phase)
Amendments to the scheme
7.11 The current application was submitted in July 2012. Following a public meeting held on 24th September 2012 further information was submitted on 19 October 2012 and a further consultation took place with residents and the Parish Council, which resulted in a number of changes being made to the scheme:
§ Moving the haul road further south away from the stables
§ No fill in sub phase 6c to minimise risks to landfill gas
§ Provision of a permissive footpath whilst statutory footpath is closed