Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed the following new Committee Members:

County Councillor Steve Rigby

County Councillor Anna Hindle

County Councillor Steven Holgate

and thanked the former Committee Members:

County Councillor Ged Mirfin

County Councillor Hasina Khan

County Councillor John Potter

Apologies for absence were received from County Councillor Holgate and County Councillor Yates.

To note the appointment by the County Council on the 27 May 2022 of County Councillors Maxwell-Scott and P Rigby as Chair and Deputy Chair of the Committee, respectively, for 2022/23.

Committee noted the appointment by the County Council on 26 May 2022 of County Councillors Maxwell-Scott and P Rigby as Chair and Deputy Chair of the Committee, respectively, for 2022/23.

Members are asked to consider any Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests they may have to disclose to the meeting in relation to matters under consideration on the Agenda.

No pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests were disclosed.

The Committee are asked to agree that the Minutes of the last meeting held on 27 April 2022 be confirmed and signed by the Chair.

Resolved: That the minutes of the last meeting held on Wednesday 27 April 2022 be confirmed and signed by the Chair.

The Update Sheet will be considered as part of each related agenda report.

The Update Sheet was circulated prior to the meeting (copy attached).

A report was presented on an application for a Variation of condition 2 and 5 of permission LCC/2021/0045, to allow Saturday working at the waste recycling yard on land off Southport Road, Scarisbrick.

Committee were advised that the site operator's agent had previously advised that restricting the hours of working to Monday to Friday had been acceptable to the applicant and this had been seen as a means of minimising potential impacts on neighbouring residents. However, the site operator had now advised that this had been a misunderstanding and that the site had always operated on Saturdays. The applicant therefore wished to amend Condition 2 so waste management activity could formally continue to take place on Saturdays between the hours of 0800 and 1600 and wished to amend Condition 5 to allow waste to be imported to the site on Saturdays.

It was reported that it was common for businesses to wish to work over the weekend and that, on large industrial estates, there were often no controls on hours of working. However, on more restricted sites, it was often more accepted that weekend working be restricted to Saturday mornings, to seek to ensure that local amenity was not unduly compromised by intermittent disturbance. On that basis, it was recommended that Condition 2 be amended to allow Saturday morning working from 0830 to 1300 hours, as opposed to the applicant's request to work from 0800 to 1600 hours. It was also recommended that Condition 5 be amended to allow up to 6 vehicles to enter or leave the site on Saturday mornings. It was considered that these controls would still provide sufficient protection for local residents, whilst appreciating the business needs of the site.

The report included the views of West Lancashire Borough Council, Scarisbrick Parish Council and the Environment Agency. Three representations had been received objecting to the application, the details of which were provided in the report.

Committee's attention was drawn to the Update Sheet which included details of an additional representation from a local resident.

The Development Management Officer presented a Powerpoint presentation showing a location plan and aerial view of the application site, nearest residential properties and the wider site retained for storage. A site layout plan was also provided together with photographs of the site entrance, skip sorting, aggregate/soil area, containers for sorted/separated waste, storage area and building outside the application site and views of the site from the surrounding areas.

Councillor John Herbert (Parish/District Councillor) addressed the Committee and made the following points:

The National Planning Policy Framework requires that a new development is appropriate to its location, taking into account the sensitivity of the wider area, and that adverse impacts on health and quality of life should be avoided. Policy DM2 of the Joint Lancashire Minerals and Waste Local Plan emphasised the importance of taking into account sources of demonstrable harm and either eliminating these or reducing them to acceptable levels. For noise to be detrimental to a community, it simply had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

This Item and Item 9 were discussed together as both related to applications at Catlow Fold Farm.

Reports were presented on the following applications in relation to Catlow East and Catlow West Quarries at Catlow Fold Farm, Southfield Lane, Southfield, Nelson, Lancashire:

(i)  an application for the removal of condition 6 (to allow crushing and screening of mineral) and the variation of condition 23 (inert materials) of planning permission LCC/2020/0073, in relation to mineral working and site restoration at Catlow East Quarry.

(ii)  Removal of condition 18 (to allow crushing and screening of mineral) and variation of condition 26 (inert materials) of planning permission LCC/2015/0055 in relation to mineral working and site restoration at Catlow West Quarry.

It was reported that the proposed changes at both quarries would allow for the screening and size reduction of minerals and the importation of a wider range of inert waste materials for restoration to include inert naturally occurring excavation material, subsoil, topsoil, concrete, ceramics and brick.

The reports included the views of the Environment Agency and one representation, the details of which were provided in the reports. Pendle Borough Council, Nelson Town Council and LCC Highways Development Control had no comments on the applications.

The Development Management Officer presented a Powerpoint presentation showing a location plan and aerial view of the application sites and site access, the stone processing buildings/equipment and offices and location of the Catlow East and Catlow West crushing and screening activity area. Various photographs were also shown of the sites including the eastern slope, cutting shed, crushing plant, view looking east from the western side and quarry access at Catlow East and the block stone working, walling stone, flagstones and powerscreen at Catlow West and the Crawshaw Lane access to both sites.

It was reported that the applicant was currently applying for Environmental Permits for both sites and that an additional permit would be required in relation to the crushing and screening equipment from the local authority where the crusher had originally been registered, specifically in relation to air quality control.

Reference was made to the Environment Agency's objections in relation to the proposed variation of Condition 23 for Catlow East Quarry and the proposed variation of Condition 26 for Catlow West Quarry regarding inert materials. It was reported that these issues needed to be controlled through the Environmental Permit process and that they were outside the remit of the planning process.

In relation to Catlow East Quarry, it was:

Resolved: That planning permission be granted subject to conditions controlling conditions controlling working programme, site operations, noise, dust, hours of operation, highway matters, drainage and water resources, landscaping, restoration and aftercare, as set out in the Committee report.

In relation to Catlow West Quarry, it was:

Resolved: That planning permission be granted subject to conditions controlling commencement, working programme, site operations, noise, dust, hours of operation, highway matters, drainage and water resources, landscaping, nature conservation, restoration and aftercare, as set out in the Committee report.

A report was presented on the Constitution, Membership and Terms of Reference of the Development Control Committee.

Resolved: That the Constitution, Membership and Terms of Reference of the Development Control Committee be noted.

It was reported that, since the last meeting of the Development Control Committee on 27 April 2022, seven planning applications had been granted planning permission by the Head of Planning and Environment, in accordance with the county council's Scheme of Delegation.

Resolved: That the report be noted.

An item of urgent business may only be considered under this heading where, by reason of special circumstances to be recorded in the Minutes, the Chairman of the meeting is of the opinion that the item should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency.  Wherever possible, the Chief Executive should be given advance warning of any Member’s intention to raise a matter under this heading.

There were no items of Urgent Business.

The next meeting of the Development Control Committee will be held on Wednesday, 20 July 2022 at 10.30 am in Committee Room B - the Diamond Jubilee Room, County Hall, Preston.

Resolved: That the next meeting of the Committee be held on Wednesday 20 July 2022, at 10.30am in Committee Room B – The Diamond Jubilee Room, County Hall, Preston.

Please see Item 8.