Agenda item

The Committee considered a report on an application for an energy recovery facility on land at Red Scar Industrial Estate, Longridge Road, Preston.

 

The application was accompanied by an Environmental Statement and Non-Technical Summary.

 

Members of the Committee had previously visited the site at Red Scar Industrial Estate, Preston and an existing facility in Cannock, Staffordshire.

 

The report included the views of Preston City Council, South Ribble Borough Council, Ribble Valley Borough Council, Grimsargh Parish Council, Samlesbury Parish Council, Lancashire County Council Highways Development Control, Highways England, the Environment Agency, Jacobs UK Ltd (Ecology advice), Natural England, the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, LCC Specialist Advisor (Archaeology), Historic England, Jacobs UK Ltd (Landscape advice), the Lead Local Flood Authority, National Grid Gas and Electricity, National Grid Company P.L.C, CadentGas, Public Health, England, Lancashire Public Health Collaborative, the Health and Safety Executive and details of 424 representations received of which 421 raised objection to the application.  The report also included details of representations received from Ben Wallace M.P., Mark Hendrick M.P. and Preston City Councillors Ron Woolam, Brian Rollo, John Browne and Philip Corker.

 

The Development Management Officer presented a PowerPoint presentation showing an aerial view of the site and the nearest residential properties. The Committee was also shown various illustrations and a photomontage of the proposed facility from various aspects together with an indicative process diagram and photographs of the site and access roads.

 

The Officer reported orally that since the committee report had been finalised the county council had received 7 further representations including one from the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England and a further petition from Residents against Longridge Road Energy Centre with 703 signatures.  Full details together with officer advice in relation to such and details of minor amendments to conditions 4, 14, 16 and 26 were set out in the 'Update Sheet' circulated at the meeting and attached at item 4 of the agenda.

 

Several local residents and Preston City Councillor, Brian Rollo, addressed the committee and raised the following summarised concerns: 

 

•  This is the wrong location for an energy recovery facility - it is too close to residential properties and schools.

•  The plant would release high levels of greenhouse gases and particulate matter into the atmosphere impacting on the general health of residents and in particular, children and older people living in the area.

•  The proposal would generate considerable additional traffic each day, through an already gridlocked route leading to the M6 motorway slip road and in turn, would result in long delays through Grimsargh and Longridge.

•  If the motorway is blocked for any reason, which is a regular occurrence, HGVs would have to travel through residential areas of Preston to access the site.

•  Residents are already subjected to high levels of pollution from the M6 Motorway. This proposal would exacerbate matters and further impact on the health of residents.

•  The plant would reinforce a throwaway attitude towards waste and might burn recyclable waste.

•  The incinerator could cause potential harm to the nearby flora and fauna at the Red Scar and Tun Brook Woods Site of Special Scientific Interest and the Brockholes Nature Reserve.

•  Residents would be subjected to odours from the plant regardless of the intended control measures.

•  The visual impact of the plant, the size of a football pitch and as high as a twelve story block of flats, would be unacceptable.

 

The Committee was urged to refuse the application and instead, look at innovative ways of dealing with waste in an environmentally friendly way. 

 

The Committee was urged to refuse the application and instead, look at innovative ways of dealing with waste in an environmentally friendly way. 

 

Paul Zanin, Planning Director for the applicant, Miller Turner, addressed the Committee and made the following summarised comments in support of the application:

 

·  The proposed development would generate enough electricity to power local homes and businesses and would attract new businesses to the area.

·  The plant would employ well-proven technology to control emissions and odour.

·  Public Health England had recently examined Energy from Waste Centres and concluded that there was a negligible impact on local air quality and no measurable risk to health.

·  The additional extra traffic generated by the development was a small proportion of existing traffic and would travel via the M6 motorway.

·  The centre would create 40 permanent jobs. 

 

He urged the committee to grant planning permission.

 

Officers responded to concerns raised by the Members with regard to the traffic routing, the lack of signage at the site exit to direct HGV traffic to the motorway, and the site entrance which it was felt, was too narrow for large HGVs to access and egress safely.

 

In response to further concerns raised by the Members, the officers produced a PowerPoint slide showing the site entrance and an existing cycleway running parallel to Longridge Road. Officers also proposed an amendment to conditions 25 and 26 of the application relating to the construction and operational travel plan. This would require the operator to provide a report to the County Planning Authority detailing compliance with the HGV traffic controls at three monthly intervals for the first 2 years of operation and thereafter, on a six month basis.

 

Following further debate with regard to pollution levels and congestion on the local road network and motorway, it was Moved and Seconded that:

 

"The application be refused on the grounds that it fails to satisfy the requirements of Policy DM2 of the Joint Lancashire Minerals and Waste Local Plan in that it impacts negatively on residential amenity; does not assist the need for a reduction in carbon emissions; does not generate a reduction in the length and number of journeys made and fails to mitigate the impact of the numbers, frequency, timing and routing of transport relating to the development."

 

On being put to the vote the Motion was Lost.

 

Following further discussion, it was Moved and Seconded that:

 

The application be granted subject to:

 

i)  The erection of signage at the exit to the site to inform HGV drivers to follow the routing controls set out in the approved construction and operational travel plans.

ii)  Improvement works to the site entrance at Red Scar Industrial Estate to allow HGVs to access and egress the site without having to queue.

 

On being put to the vote the amendments were Carried.

 

The amended conditions relating to the construction and operational travel plan and the additional conditions relating to the erection of signage and the improvement works to the site entrance are set out below for completeness:

 

Amendment to condition 25:-

 

g) provision for the submission of a report to the County Planning Authority at three monthly intervals throughout the construction period detailing the compliance with the HGV traffic controls under e) in the previous three month period and measures that have been taken to secure compliance with the controls

f) reword part f) of the condition as follows:-

Provision for the monitoring of the effectiveness of the measures set out in parts a) to d) of the construction travel plan including submission of a monitoring report to the County Planning Authority at six monthly intervals during the construction period detailing the effectiveness of the measures set out in parts a) – d) and measures to be implemented to encourage take up and compliance with the objectives of the Construction Travel Plan.

 

Amendment to Condition 26:-

 

Reword part d) as follows:-

d) Provision for the monitoring of the effectiveness of the measures set out in parts a) and b) of the Operational Travel Plan including submission of a review to the County Planning Authority at two yearly intervals beginning from the date of approval of the initial Operational Travel Plan. The review shall detail the levels of compliance with the objectives of the travel plan and measures to encourage take up of sustainable travel modes.

New part e):-

e) provision for the submission of an HGV traffic monitoring report at three monthly intervals detailing the levels of compliance with the HGV routing measures approved under part c) of this condition including measures to secure compliance with the controls.

 

New condition 28.

 

No development shall commence until details of signage to be erected at the access from the site onto Longridge Road has been submitted to the County Planning Authority and approved in writing. The submitted details shall contain information on the size, location and information to be displayed on the signage. The signage shall inform HGV drivers of the requirement to follow the routing controls set out in the approved construction and operational travel plans.

 

The approved signage shall be erected prior to the commencement of construction activities and thereafter retained in position through the full duration of construction activities and the operation of the development.

 

Reason: In order to minimise the impacts of the development on the local highway network and the amenities of local residents and to conform with Policy DM2 of the Lancashire Minerals and Waste Local Plan.

 

New condition 29

 

No development shall commence until a scheme of improvement works for the entrance to Redscar Industrial Estate has been submitted to and approved in writing by the County Planning Authority. The improvement works shall aim to minimise the risk of queuing vehicles at the entrance into the Redscar Industrial Estate. The works contained in the approved scheme shall be implemented prior to the commencement of construction works.

 

Reason: In the interests of highway safety and to conform with Policy DM2 of the Lancashire Minerals and Waste Local Plan.

 

Resolved: That after first taking into consideration the environmental information, as defined in the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 and subject to the amendments to conditions 4, 14, 16, 25 and 26 as set out in the update sheet and above and the inclusion of the additional conditions 28 and 29 as set out above, planning permission be granted subject to the conditions set out in the report to the committee.