DEC Officer Report
Application No.: 19/00555/B Applicant: Birchall Plant Hire Ltd Proposal: Creation of a secured storage area for skips (retrospective) Site Address: Landrace The Technical Site The Old Airfield Braust Andreas Isle Of Man IM7 4JB Planning Officer: Mr Nick Salt Photo Taken: 13.06.2019 Site Visit: 13.06.2019 Expected Decision Level: Planning Committee Recommended Decision: Permitted Date of Recommendation: 20.06.2019 _________________________________________________________________
Conditions and Notes for Approval
C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions
- C 1. The use approved applies only to that area outlined in red on the location plans submitted for the application and date stamped as received by the department on 13th May 2019. Reason: To prevent further encroachment of the site on nearby areas.
- C 2. The skip compound hereby approved shall only be accessed between the hours of 08:00 17:00 Monday to Friday, and 08:00 - 12:00 Saturday, there shall be no vehicle movements on the site outside of these hours.
Reason: To ensure that the approval reflects that applied for, and to limit any unacceptable levels of site traffic on the nearby roads at unsociable hours.
- C 3.No processing of waste or storage of unsorted/unprocessed mixed skips of waste shall take place in the compound, only storage of full and/or empty skips and fleet vehicles.
Reason: As requested by the DEFA Environmental Protection Unit in order to limit potential environmental impacts.
- C 4. Only skips containing dry recyclable wastes shall be stored on site, such as plastics, wood, carpets etc.
Reason: To reduce the environmental impacts of the waste storage via odours and/or impact on wildlife activity (rodents, seagulls etc).
- C 5. No household waste shall be stored or processed on the site. Reason: To prevent the site acting as a landfill.
Plans/Drawings/Information;
This decision relates to the following plans and drawings, date stamped received 13th May 2019:
- o Location Plan
- o Site Plan
_______________________________________________________________ Interested Person Status – Additional Persons
None _____________________________________________________________________________
Officer’s Report
THE APPLICATION IS BROUGHT BEFORE PLANNING COMMITTEE FOR DETERMINATION AS THE PROPOSAL COULD BE CONSIDERED A DEPARTURE FROM THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN
1.0 THE SITE - 1.1 The site is part of a field adjacent to Andreas Airfield, in an area characterised by industrial uses, including scrap metal site and various warehouses and informal uses. The site itself is in use for the storage of skips. Wire fencing separates the site from the rest of the field. The area has been levelled with a dirt/gravel ground surface. - 1.2 The closest residential property is 'Woodside', the curtilage of which sits approximately 105 metres from the boundary of the skip site.
2.0 THE PROPOSAL - 2.1 The application is a retrospective one for the use of the site for a secure skip storage area for empty skips from 4 cubic yards to 40 cu/yds, full skips of recycled materials would be stored here prior to transfer after agreement with the Environmental Protection Unit. - 2.2 The proposed hours of operation are Monday-Friday 08:00 - 17:00 and Saturday 08:00
- 12:00. As of 17th May 2019 there was 13 skips in storage awaiting repair and 3 on standby. Skip waste on this site and the adjacent site is sorted for recycling nearby.
3.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 3.1 The adjacent site has had planning approval in 2010 (09/01933/B) for the erection of a workshop/garage building. The case officers report stated: "The former airfield has a number of industrial uses located on it and it seems to have been generally accepted that the area is a brown field site… The garage/workshop would provide facilities for the maintenance and repair to the applicants skip and plant vehicles.
The building instead is modest in size and would fit within the surrounding area which is made up of hangers, industrial buildings, porta-cabins etc. The unit would be within an existing group of buildings and therefore would not be within an isolated location, which could result in an adverse visual impact upon the countryside. However, given its location within the Andreas Airfield and the existing use of the site it is consider the building and its use would be acceptable."
4.0 PLANNING POLICY - 4.1 The application site is in an area of 'White Land' on the 1982 Development Plan; it is not zoned for any development. - 4.2 There are therefore a number of Strategic Plan Policies which are relevant to this application:
"Development will not be permitted outside of those areas which are zoned for development on the appropriate Area Plan with the exception of:
- (a) essential housing for agricultural workers who have to live close to their place of work; (Housing Policies 7, 8, 9 and 10);
- (b) conversion of redundant rural buildings which are of architectural, historic, or social value and interest; (Housing Policy 11);
- (c) previously developed land(1) which contains a significant amount of building; where the continued use is redundant; where redevelopment would reduce the impact of the current situation on the landscape or the wider environment; and where the development proposed would result in improvements to the landscape or wider environment;
- (d) the replacement of existing rural dwellings; (Housing Policies 12, 13 and 14);
- (e) location-dependent development in connection with the working of minerals or the provision of necessary services;
- (f) building and engineering operations which are essential for the conduct of agriculture or forestry;
- (g) development recognised to be of overriding national need in land use planning terms and for which there is no reasonable and acceptable alternative; and
- (h) buildings or works required for interpretation of the countryside, its wildlife or heritage.
- 4.2.2 Environment Policy 1:
"The countryside and its ecology will be protected for its own sake. For the purposes of this policy, the countryside comprises all land which is outside the settlements defined in Appendix
- 3 at A.3.6 or which is not designated for future development on an Area Plan. Development which would adversely affect the countryside will not be permitted unless there is an overriding national need in land use planning terms which outweighs the requirement to protect these areas and for which there is no reasonable and acceptable alternative."
"Waste management installations, including landfill sites, civic amenity sites and facilities for the bulking up, separation, recycling, or recovery or materials from waste will be permitted provided that:
- (a) there is an acknowledged need for the proposal in accordance with the approved Waste Management Strategy;
- (b) there is no unacceptable adverse impact on local residents in terms of visual amenity, dust, noise, or vibration or as a result of the traffic generated thereby;
- (c) there would be no unacceptable adverse effect on:
- i. landscapes, geology/geomorphology and features of special interest or attraction;
- ii. Ancient Monuments or their settings;
- iii. Registered Buildings or their settings, or features of architectural importance;
- iv. the character and appearance of Conservation Areas;
- v. sites of archaeological interest;
- vi. sites containing species or habitats of international, national or local importance;
- vii. land drainage and water resources;
- viii. areas of woodland or the Island's timber resources; or
- ix. designated National Heritage Areas.
- (d) the proposal is acceptable in terms of access arrangements and highway safety;
- (e) in the case of landfill sites working shall be in accordance with a phased scheme of restoration and landscaping;
- (f) the proposal does not sterilize other significant mineral deposits; and that
- (g) the proposal will not have an unacceptable adverse impact on airport safety by, for example, increasing the risk of bird strike.
Landfill will only be permitted where it can be demonstrated that there is no alternative method for managing that waste. An application involving the installations or facilities referred to in this Policy will require the submission of an Environmental Impact Assessment."
- 5.0 REPRESENTATIONS
5.1 DoI Highway Services oppose the application (07.06.19) on the basis that no details of access arrangements have been provided in order to understand how trucks etc. will access the site. - 5.2 Andreas Parish Commissioners have no objections to the application (22.06.19). - 5.3 DEFA Environmental Protection Unit provided comments on 08.07.19 suggesting conditions on approval: "No processing of waste shall take place in the compound, only storage of full and/or empty skips and fleet vehicles; No unsorted / unprocessed mixed skips of waste will be stored in the compound;
Storage of the following shall be permitted post processing as separately collected fractions for future recycling and/or disposal -
- o Plastic wrapping
- o Tyres
- o Burnable wastes for the EfW
- o Green waste
- o Wood
- o Hard plastics
- o Hardcore
- o uPVC frames"
- 6.0 ASSESSMENT
6.1 Given the scale and the nature of the site, and the issues outlined in Waste Policy 1, it is considered that the key issues in the assessment of this application are the principle of the use, the visual impact on the countryside, and the access/traffic impacts.
6.2 Principle of the use
- 6.2.1 The site is within an area not zoned for development, and the use of the site does not meet any of the exemption criteria in General Policy 3 of the Strategic Plan. In that regard, the use of the site for the storage of skips does not accord with the Development Plan in principle.
- 6.2.2 However, previous development has been permitted and is ongoing in the vicinity, including the warehouse in the site adjacent (section 3.1). It is considered that, as there are no built structures proposed in this application or existing on the site, the impact would be lower than many of these uses, with the use more reversible in future if needed.
- 6.2.3 In terms of waste management, the enterprise that runs the site sort skip material for recycling elsewhere, in accordance with the Isle of Man Government 2018 Waste Strategy which aims to recycle as much waste as possible.
6.3 Visual impact on the countryside
- 6.3.1 Visually, impact would be low from a distance, with the site surrounded by more prominent sites such as the quarry area to the south and various shipping containers in adjacent sites. The skips stored on site would and do not have a large visual impact on the countryside.
- 6.3.2 The gravel area constitutes a removal of agricultural field and therefore grass surface which could be argued to be out of keeping with Environment Policy 1. Again however, there are many existing similar sites nearby, and the use of the field for agricultural purposes is perhaps not practical. The area is not in any part of the Island specially zoned for its environmental quality. Overall visual impact from any public vantage points would be low.
6.4 Access and impacts on traffic
- 6.4.1 The site shares access tracks and road access with other sites surrounding it. The applicant has stated that the compound will not be heavily used, with some days seeing no use as it is primarily an overflow storage area. Overall, it is not considered that there is likely to be an unacceptable increase in the level of HGVs and machinery in the area than what previously existed, or which would be detrimental to highway safety.
- 6.4.2 Highways oppose the application due to lack of access information. It was considered on the case officers site visit (13.06.19) that access would be shared with the various other industrial of plant uses around the airfield, via a dedicated and wide access road linked to Oatlands Road at a bend which provides good visibility in each direction.
6.5 Other Considerations
- 6.5.1 Whilst Waste Policy 1 generally requires an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for waste proposals, the scale of this site is considered relatively modest given the nature of the waste to be stored, the method of storage and the processing involved. For that reason, it is not considered that an EIA is necessary for this development proposal.
- 7.0 CONCLUSION
7.1 In summary, the proposed use of this site and alterations to accommodate the use do not accord with all of the the Development Plan provisions but broadly conform with Waste Policy 1 and the application is recommended for approval on the basis that the site is relatively low impact and surrounded by similar sites. The storage of skips and waste is best located outside of settlement centres. - 8.0 INTERESTED PERSON STATUS
8.1 By virtue of the Town and Country Planning (Development Procedure) (No 2) Order 2013 Article 6(4), the following persons are automatically interested persons:
- (a) The applicant, or if there is one, the applicant's agent;
- (b) The owner and the occupier of any land that is the subject of the application or any other person in whose interest the land becomes vested;
- (c) Any Government Department that has made written submissions relating to planning considerations with respect to the application that the Department considers material
- (d) Highway Services Division of Department of Infrastructure and
- (e) The local authority in whose district the land the subject of the application is situated.
8.2 The decision maker must determine:
- o Whether any other comments from Government Departments (other than the Department of Infrastructure Highway Services Division) are material; and
- o Whether there are other persons to those listed in Article 6(4) who should be given Interested Person Status.
8.3 The Department of Environment Food and Agriculture is responsible for the determination of planning applications. As a result, where officers within the Department make comments in a professional capacity they cannot be given Interested Person Status.
I confirm that this decision has been made by the Planning Committee in accordance with the authority afforded to it under the appropriate delegated authority.
Decision Made : …Permitted……….... Committee Meeting Date:…15.07.2019
Signed :………S CORLETT……….. Presenting Officer
Further to the decision of the Committee an additional report/condition reason was required (included as supplemental paragraph to the officer report).
Signatory to delete as appropriate YES/NO See below
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