Planning Application Mw

Beckley & Stowood Parish Council

C/o Mrs Sue Cox Parish Clerk

Garden Cottage

Folly Farm

Common Road

Beckley OX3 9UR

Mary Thompson

Senior Planning Officer

Development Management
Environment and Economy
Speedwell House
Oxford

OX1 1NE

Friday 2nd March

Dear Mary,

Planning Application for filling Woodeaton Quarry MW0015/12

Beckley and Stowood Parish Council have been kept fully abreast of the above application by our neighbour Woodeaton, and although the works would not take place in our Parish we have significant concerns for our parishioners who live close to / on the proposed route.

Currently there is almost no vehicular movement on the B4027 or Bayswater Road of the tipper type that would be used, and it is felt that there will be a greatly increased risk of accident to cars, motorcycles, cyclists, horses and pedestrians as a result of the proposal.

Additionally there will be increased noise, fumes, vibration for our parishioners who do live close to the route, and we would refer you to the attached letter from Mr Berridge of New Inn Court.

We have consolidated the ongoing research that has been done by local residents regarding the scheme into what we hope reflects our wider objection to the scheme, and hope that the content that follows can be taken into account during the decision making process.

Yours sincerely,

David Scott

Chairman Beckley & Stowood Parish Council

PLANNING APPLICATION MW.0015/12 FOR FILLING WOODEATON QUARRY

RESPONSE FROM BECKLEY & STOWOOD PARISH COUNCIL

Beckley & Stowood Parish Council objects to this planning application on the grounds set out below which are considered under Oxfordshire County Council’s planning criteria –

1. The Need

2. The Local Environmental Impact

3. The Transport Route is not suitable on the grounds of

·  The efficiency and quality of the road network is not adequate for the proposed increase in HGV traffic

·  Safety of all road users, including pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders and motorists

·  Detrimental effect on local residents along the route

4. The additional information required

5. Conditions that should be imposed to reduce potential detrimental affects to local residents if granting permission is considered

6. Monitoring to ensure compliance with any conditions

1. The Need

1.1.  The planning criteria [1996 - current] states that there must be “a definite need for the facilities which cannot be met by existing or permitted landfill sites”.

1.2.  The Pre-application advice from Oxfordshire County Council Officers contained in the planning application document states “Merit in restoring the quarry, but must demonstrate definite need for the development.”

1.3. The calculations of local need contained in McKenna’s planning application are flawed in that –

·  They do not represent an accurate estimate of inert waste generation

·  The highest 2015 figure has been used when the period in question is 2012-2022 and should therefore be 520,000

·  It was assumed that 50% of all inert waste generation would be in central Oxfordshire, whereas the 28%, as for housing, is a more realistic figure.

·  To back up their calculations McKenna’s own figures were used over one 7 month period in 2011. This is flawed and unlikely to be at all representative of the inert waste generation in Oxfordshire as a whole.

1.4. There is no local need to re-open Woodeaton Quarry to dump inert waste. There is adequate current and future provision from Shipton-on-Cherwell and Tubney Wood/Upton Park each have capacity for about 100,000 tonnes a year.

1.5. McKenna wishes to import 520,000 tonnes of inert waste to ‘restore’ the quarry, but this does not include the considerable quantities of waste that has been left at ground level in huge mounds around the quarry. The amount of waste already heaped at the quarry needs to be established and all calculations on filling levels should include these existing quantities of heaped waste first, before any additional quantities of imported waste are considered. The minimum amount of waste required to stabilise the quarry and make it ‘safe’ needs to be established. The filling to a ‘safe’ level and use of this heaped waste at the quarry could be the starting point for negotiations with McKenna of the total quantity of waste to be imported, which should be reduced considerably.

2. The Local Environment

2.1. The planning criteria both current and the new one to be adopted soon state –

·  There should be no material damage or disturbance to the environment or to the amenities of residential and other sensitive uses or buildings, both during and after operation, by reason of noise, dust, vermin, smell, gas and other pollution, or long-term damage to the visual amenities; 1996

·  Proposals for minerals and waste development should demonstrate that they will not have an unacceptable adverse impact on the environment, residential amenity and other sensitive receptors. 2012

2.2. The work at Woodeaton quarry itself is not near Beckley & Stowood so dust is unlikely to affect parish residents, apart from ensuring that lorry tyres are washed and lorries are covered in transit.

2.3. The noise in the latter stages of filling the quarry, Phase 4D, may affect some Beckley residents in lower Beckley (near Otmoor), Common Road and parts of Stowood. The noise tests have only been carried out with the machinery at the bottom of the quarry, at 83-83metres AOD, but in the later Phase 4D the machinery will be moved to a site at 101metres AOD, well above current ground level and well above any proposed noise screening. No noise testing has been carried out at this height and the sound is very likely to carry a long way and potentially disturb residents in a much wider area. Additional noise tests need to be carried out when the machinery is sited at the phase 4D level and the likely timing for this phase needs to be established.

2.4. The noisiest operations are lorries both in the quarry and along the route. The noise report cites a noise level of 80Db at 10metres.

·  Environment Protection UK web site states – “Noise can cause annoyance and fatigue, interfere with communication and sleep, reduce efficiency and damage hearing. The World Health Organisation recommends a guideline level of 30 dB LAeq for undisturbed sleep, and a daytime level for outdoor sound levels of 50dB to prevent people from becoming "moderately annoyed" (Guidelines for Community Noise, 2000).

·  http://www.environmental-protection.org.uk/noise/environmental-noise/health/

·  The USA National Institute of Health advises on its web site that “Long or repeated exposure to sounds at or above 85 decibels can cause hearing loss.”

http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing/pages/noise.aspx

·  Most of the residents of Stowood live close to the B4027 and will be affected by lorry noise, which may be detrimental to their health and be sufficiently loud to cause permanent hearing loss. If permission is granted the number of addition HGV movements and timing needs to be restricted to reduce this risk. McKenna’s proposed working hours are 7a.m. – 6p.m. Monday to Friday and 7 a.m. – 1 p.m. on Saturday. These hours need to be restricted, ideally so that this no traffic on Saturdays and shorter days during the week.

3. The Transport Route

3.1. The planning criteria both current and proposed state -

·  The proposed access to the site, and transport routes for carrying waste to it, are suitable for the volume and nature of traffic which may be expected [1996]

·  Minerals and waste development will only be permitted where provision is made for convenient access to and along the primary road network in a way that maintains or improves:

•  the safety of all road users including pedestrians;

•  the efficiency and quality of the road network;

•  residential and environmental amenity [2012]

3.2. The draft Waste Planning Strategy currently awaiting approval defines the strategic road network as M40, A40, A41, A44, A420, A34, A428. A route along the B4027 and Bayswater Road does not meet this criterion and should be rejected. The roads are narrow and there is not room for two lorries and a cyclist to pass.

3.3. The other quarries close to Oxford at Tubney Wood/Upwood Park and Shipton-on-Cherwell both have access directly off major A roads.

3.3. The route through Barton, along the Bayswater Road and the B4027 is not along a primary road network. It starts along an unclassified road through Barton, a housing estate with a 20 mph speed limit and speed humps. The Oxford Crematorium is in Bayswater Road near Barton and then it follows a ‘B’ grade country road. There are two schools along the route, Bayards Hill Primary School in Barton with 382 pupils, many of whom have to cross the route regularly morning and evening and Forest Farm School near Elsfield, with access directly onto the route. Parish residents will need to use these routes, as will a number of pupils and staff at Beckley school.

3.4. Safety – The accident statistics are grossly underestimated and probably only show ~10% of the true picture. The OCC accident statistics ’06-8/11 show 2 serious and 2 slight accidents at each junction on the Bayswater Road. The B4027 has a series of dangerous bends and junctions which suffer regular serious accidents including a number of fatalities. The worst are the White House junction, where local residents report a number of serious accidents from overtaking at the junction and cars in hedges and fields on each side of the road at least once a year; the bends by Lodge Farm, where local residents report an accident each week during the summer, 3 on one day and 3 fatalities; the Elsfield Road/B4027 junction, where visibility is severely restricted onto the B4027 ; the bends at Lower Woods Farm/Beckley Manor. The OCC accident statistics show 37 accidents on the B4027, along the proposed lorry route. An accident involving a lorry, especially one fully laden with inert waste is much more likely to be fatal.

3.5. The traffic count contained in the McKenna’s ‘Transport Statement’ does not contain sufficient breakdown of traffic types. However, the volumes do not differ greatly from Oxford County Council (OCC) figures.

·  Bicycles are not counted

·  HGVs are mixed up with buses, so it is not possible to distinguish these (unlike the Oxfordshire County Council figures)

·  The count was carried out by the quarry entrance on the B4027 and not on other parts of the route, particularly in Barton, on the Bayswater Road.

3.6. The B4027 is regularly used by horses and in the summer especially, by large numbers of bicycles particularly at weekends and in early evening on weekdays. The OCC traffic census flows north-west of Noke were 5,500 in ’00 and 5,200 in ‘10 vehicles per day. There are a significant number of cyclists [60/day] and the number has been rising annually. The number of HGVs is very low at ~1%. This is significant as 20 to 50 [max] additional lorry journeys per day would increase HGV traffic by 15-~40% [using 09 figures].

4. Additional Information Requirements

4.1. The amount of waste already heaped at the quarry needs to be established and included in the total amount used to infill the quarry.

4.2. The minimum amount of waste required to stabilise the quarry and make it ‘safe’ needs to be established.

4.3. Additional noise tests need to be carried out when the machinery is sited at the phase 4D level, which is 101metres AOD and the likely timing for this phase needs to be established.

4.4. Oxfordshire County Council needs to carry out a detailed traffic census to include types of traffic e.g. bicycles, HGV s, cars etc – at the Bayswater Road in Barton, B4027 near the Elsfield Road junction.

5. Conditions - to Reduce Potentially Detrimental Effects on Local Residents

Should Oxfordshire County Council planning committee consider granting planning permission the conditions listed below are recommended. It is understood that John Howell our local MP has offered to facilitate a meeting between local residents groups, Mr McKenna and his agents and the Officers of OCC to discuss and agree suitable conditions. This Parish Council supports this idea.

QUARRY FILLING AND WORKING

·  Reduce the total amount of inert waste to be imported and dumped to what is required to make the quarry ‘safe’ and stable, minus the amount that is already heaped around the quarry at ground level. This would reduce nuisance to Woodeaton residents and the total number of lorry journeys for those living and using the route.

·  One estimate is that only 1/3 of the volume [about 160 -170,000 total tonnage] of inert waste is required to achieve satisfactory stability, another suggests less than 0.5 million tonnes.

·  The current proposal suggests a raised hump in the northern part of the site to maximise the volume of waste used. Considerable research has been undertaken on the original contours and the field did not have this hump and it should not be filled to this level.

·  When the noise tests have been rerun at the higher level planned for Phase 4D and the effect has been fully assessed remedial action will probably be necessary to reduce noise to Woodeaton and surrounding villages, including parts of Beckley and Stowood. This would involve higher noise barriers, reducing the height of machinery and reducing working times.

·  The removal of ‘top soil production’ to McKenna’s recycling plant at New Wintles Farm, Eynsham should be considered to reduce overall noise and nuisance.

·  The working hours at the quarry should be reduced and there should be no working on Saturdays.

TRAFFIC

Before any routing is agreed measured need to be agreed on improving safety for current road users and residents with OCC namely –

To Increase Road Safety with Oxfordshire County Council

·  Input from OCC, the police and road user organisations should be sought on safety improvements to the route as a priority

·  Two of the road humps should be removed in the Bayswater Road to reduce noise to local residents and nuisance to other motorists

·  The speed signage at the dangerous dip and bends at Lodge Farm on B4027 needs to be reduced to 40mph all through the bend, rather than reverting to 50mph in the bend, on both sides of the road.