EAST AYRSHIRE COUNCIL
PLANNING COMMITTEE: 19 JUNE 2015
14/0449/AMCPP: DISCHARGE OF CONDITION 40 (PRIVATE WATER SUPPLIES) OF PLANNING CONSENT 11/0967/PP
AT SNEDDON LAW WINDFARM
MOSCOW, EAST AYRSHIRE
APPLICATION BY COMMUNITY WINDPOWER LTD
Report by Head of Planning and Economic Development
Click for Application Details http://eplanning.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/online/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=N66N2LGF00U00
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SHEET
PURPOSE OF REPORT
1. The purpose of this report is to present for determination by the Planning Committee an application to discharge planning condition 40 (Private Water Supplies “PWS”) of planning consent 11/0967/PP for a wind farm at Sneddon Law. Under the Council’s Scheme of Delegation the application to discharge the condition requires to be determined by Planning Committee where the Head of Planning and Economic Development under S43A (6) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 considers that it would be appropriate for members of the planning authority to take the decision on the application for reasons, including the application raising new or significant issues meriting the determination at Committee.
2. In this case the discharge of condition 40 for PWS has significant issues in terms of environmental impacts in relation to ensuring the security and maintenance of PWS to residents and in relation to the appropriate information provided by the Community Windpower (CWP), the Developer to assess risks in relation to PWS.
RECOMMENDATION
3. It is recommended that the application for discharge of Condition 40 be refused for the reasons indicated at Appendix 1 of the report.
CONTRARY DECISION NOTE
4. Should the Committee agree that the application to discharge the planning condition be approved contrary to the recommendation of the Head of Planning and Economic Development, the application will not require to be referred to Council as it would not represent a significant departure from Council policy.
Michael Keane
Head of Planning and Economic Development
Note: This document combines key sections of the associated report for quick reference and should not in itself be considered as having been the basis for recommendation preparation or decision making by the Planning Authority.
EAST AYRSHIRE COUNCIL
PLANNING COMMITTEE: 19 JUNE 2015
14/0449/AMCPP: DISCHARGE OF CONDITION 40 (PRIVATE WATER SUPPLIES) OF PLANNING CONSENT 11/0967/PP
AT SNEDDON LAW WINDFARM
MOSCOW, EAST AYRSHIRE
APPLICATION BY COMMUNITY WINDPOWER LTD
Report by Head of Planning and Economic Development, Economy and Skills
PURPOSE OF REPORT
5. The purpose of this report is to present for determination by the Planning Committee an application to discharge planning condition 40 (Private Water Supplies “PWS”) of planning consent 11/0967/PP for a wind farm at Sneddon Law. Under the Council’s Scheme of Delegation the application to discharge the condition requires to be determined by Planning Committee where the Head of Planning and Economic Development under S43A (6) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 considers that it would be appropriate for members of the planning authority to take the decision on the application for reasons, including the application raising new or significant issues meriting the determination at Committee.
6. In this case the discharge of condition 40 for PWS has significant issues in terms of environmental impacts in relation to ensuring the security and maintenance of PWS to residents and in relation to the appropriate information provided by the Community Windpower (CWP), the Developer to assess risks in relation to PWS.
APPLICATION DETAILS
7. Site Description: Planning consent was granted by the Council for the Sneddon Law Wind Farm on the 28 February 2013. The consent has a number of planning conditions that require to be discharged prior to the commencement of works on the site. In this case Condition 40 of the consent relates to PWS and states;
“Prior to Commencement of Development, the Operator shall submit a water risk assessment (the Water Risk Assessment) of the effects of the development on the quantity and quality of water supplied to all properties with a private water supply that may be affected by the development for the written approval of the Planning Authority in consultation with SEPA. The Water Risk Assessment shall include, but not exclusively, details of any necessary mitigation measures and monitoring arrangements prior to commencement of development, during construction and upon completion of construction. Thereafter any mitigation measures identified in the approved Water Risk Assessment shall be implemented and maintained by the Operator.”
The reason for this condition is to ensure the protection of the quantity and quality of PWS.
8. Condition 40: The applicant submitted documentation in support of the discharge of Condition 40 on the 14 May 2014. The initial documentation submitted by the Developer in support of the discharge of Condition 40 was the document used to support the discharge of Condition 20 which states “Prior to Commencement of Development the Operator shall submit details of a method statement for working near to water bodies, including the installation of burn crossings, for the written approval of the Planning Authorities in consultation with SEPA and SNH. The approved method statement shall be implemented by the Developer and shall be supervised by the ECoW.”
9. This document “Method Statement on Working close to water bodies” in support of discharge of Condition 20 was discharged by the Planning Service in May 2014. This document “Method Statement on Working close to water bodies” was also submitted to be read alongside the document submitted (at the same time) in support of the discharge of Condition 22, dealing with water quality monitoring. The Developer further wished these two documents to be read together to address the matters required from Condition 40 specifically relating to the Private Water Supplies Risk Assessment. As such it was the view of the Developer during May 2014 that these two documents met the requirements of the condition in full at that time.
10. The Planning Authority advised the Developer on 2 June 2014 that a single document that specifically addressed the matters in Condition 40 was required, and that the single document should contain all the information necessary and relevant to discharge Condition 40. The importance of private water supplies and their protection merited a single focussed document that set out a baseline regarding PWS and, following a PWS risk assessment, site specific mitigations as well as appropriate contingencies would require to be identified.
11. The following submissions have been made to the Planning Authority by the Developer:
· 14 May 2014 submission -“Method Statement on Working Close To Water Bodies”, January 2014 (Reference 122-140113-3032);
· 5 June 2014 submission - “Report on Private Water Supply (PWS) Properties”, June 2014 (no reference, no author);
· 30 June 2014 submission - resubmitted “Water Quality Monitoring Plan” in support of Conditions 22 and 40 (no reference, no author);
· 21 July 2014 submission - “Report on Private Water Supply (PWS) Properties”, June 2014 (no reference or author);
· 7 August 2014 - Report on Private Water Supply (PWS) Properties, Including Water Risk Assessment, August 2014 (Reference 122-140715-3050-B, no author given). Additional diagrams also submitted but not included in document.
· 19 August 2014 – “ Report on Private Water Supply (PWS) Properties, Including Water Risk Assessment, August 2014 (Reference 122‐140715‐3050‐C, no author given) with documents that are to be appended in appendices;
· 1 October 2014 - “ Report on Private Water Supply (PWS) Properties, Including Water Risk Assessment, October 2014 (Reference 122‐140715‐3050-D, no author given);
· 4 December 2014 - “Report on Private Water Supply (PWS) Properties, Including Water Risk Assessment, December 2014 (Reference 122‐140715‐3050-E, no author given);
· 2 February 2015 - “Report on Private Water Supply (PWS) Properties, Including Water Risk Assessment, January 2015 (Reference 122‐140715‐3050-F, no author given). Additional documents sent in as appendices.
12. The Developer advises in their latest submission that two of the three documents appended must be read in conjunction with “Report on Private Water Supply (PWS) Properties, Including Water Risk Assessment”, January 2015 and these two required documents are:
· ‘Sneddon Law Water Monitoring Plan’ (Ref:122-130116-726-F)
· ‘Method Statement for working close to water bodies (Ref: 122-140113-3032)
13. As highlighted above the “Method Statement on Working close to water bodies” was submitted to the Planning Authority in support of discharge of Condition 20 and was discharged in May 2014. SEPA comments on this earlier document highlighted that :
“Section 4.1.7 states that cement wash out areas will be provided adjacent to each turbine, details of cement wash out areas will need to be agreed with SEPA’s local operations team based in our Ayr office. SEPA is unlikely to grant CAR authorisation for the discharge of cement washing to the water environment.”
14. It is therefore questionable whether this document presents up to date and appropriate supporting information for the discharge of the condition relating to the protection of water quality or for the implications on the discharge of the PWS condition.
15. Regarding ‘Sneddon Law Water Monitoring Plan’ (Ref: 122-130116-726-F), this document reference and title has not been submitted to the Planning Authority. We have received a submission on water quality for condition 22 but this document has a different title to that identified with a reference 122-130116-7262-D, and it has to be assumed that this is the document that should have been referred to. The “Water Pollution Prevention Plan” 122-130116-7262-D, and a further version has been dated January 2015 (although the Developer has advised that it should read April 2015) and is referenced as 122-130116-7262-E. It is therefore this later document that is currently being considered by the Planning Authority, in terms of its content.
16. Council Officers met with the applicant at a meeting on the 31 October 2014 and the applicant advised that further survey work would be carried out on sources and this was confirmed in their letter to the Planning Authority dated the 3 November 2014. Unfortunately this additional survey information is not evident in the information submitted. This matter was further discussed with the applicant at a meeting between Council officers on the 6 January 2015. The applicant submitted a revised document on the 2 February 2015, and matters raised previously were not covered within the document and clarification was sought on the 2 April 2015 on why a number of issues raised by the Council had not been resolved and reflected within the report.
CONSULTATIONS RESPONSES AND ISSUES RAISED
13. Consultations were issued in accordance with the terms of the planning condition to The Scottish Environmental Agency and to the Council’s Environmental Health Section. The consultation responses from each consultee are list in chronological order below.
14. Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) (Response on 12 June 2014) - May 2014 submission
SEPA stated “We have reviewed the submitted information (Method Statement for working close to water bodies and the Water Quality Monitoring Plan) and are currently not satisfied that the issues in relation to our interests have been adequately addressed.
The submitted water quality monitoring plan identifies 2 Private Water Supplies (PWS) associated with Redding and Craigends properties as potentially being at risk from the wind farm construction. The submitted Method statement for working close to water bodies identifies Craigend as being 190m from the nearest wind turbine and Redding as being 230m from the site boundary. The sources of all of the PWS listed in the method statement (Table 1) have not been provided as previously requested by SEPA.
Without the identification of the source of all PWS in the area it is unclear if the groundwater monitoring proposed would be sufficient to identify impacts to all PWS within 250m of foundations and borrow pits and 100m of road, tracks or trenches. Furthermore, any monitoring should be agreed with the PWS user and SEPA are only in a position to offer general advice on the scope of monitoring.”
15. Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) (Response on 24 June 2014) – 5 June 2014 submission
SEPA stated “We previously responded to the discharge of condition 40 in a letter dated 12 June 2014 where we asked for further information on private water supplies. Based on the information provided by Community Windpower Limited, indicating that the two PWS previously identified as potentially being at risk from the development (Craigends and Redding) are no longer used/functional, our concerns about the potential impacts of the development on the water environment have been satisfactorily answered.”
16. Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) (response on 19 August 2014) – 7 August 2014 submission
SEPA stated “We have reviewed the additional submitted information and as stated in our response of 24 June 2014 we are satisfied that the issues in relation to our interests have been adequately addressed. We therefore have no concerns regarding the discharge of condition 40.”
17. Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) (Response on 22 August 2014) – 19 August 2014 submission
SEPA stated “We have previously responded to the discharge of this condition in responses dated, 12th June, 24th June, and 19th August 2014. We can confirm that we are satisfied that the issues in relation to our interests have been addressed and have no further comments to make.”
18. Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) (Response on 22 December 2014) - December 2014 submission
SEPA stated “We have reviewed the submitted report on private water supply properties, December 2014 and are satisfied that the issues in relation to our interests have been adequately addressed. We therefore have no concerns regarding the discharge of condition 40. Please note the advice below.
19. The buffer zones applied to the development infrastructure and the Private Water Supplies (PWS) are conservative buffers designed to protect PWS during windfarm development. The PWS sources' are out with the prescribed buffers. Furthermore there are proposals to undertake monitoring of surface water and groundwater at the site so that in the case of impact it is identified.
The updated report provided on PWS demonstrates that the source of 'Alton Muirhouse' PWS, although 100m from a site track, is on the opposing side of the site track to the point of use (Figure 4 of report on private water supply properties). This information was previously not provided.