Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors D Brailsford and H Spratt.

The Chief Executive reported that under the Local Government (Committee and Political Groups) Regulations 1990, he had appointed Councillor Mrs A Austin to the Committee, place of Councillor Mrs A M Newton, for this meeting only.

It was noted that all members of the Committee had been lobbied by Alison Morley, by email, which raised a number of issues in connection with this application (minute 18).

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 3 July 2017, be agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Since the publication of the report a response to consultation had been received as follows:-

Local Resident- an additional letter has been received from a local resident within Thistleton which reiterates previous concerns about the development including proximity of the extension to properties along Main Street, Thistleton; concerns about noise, dust and increased traffic; impacts of property values, and; that the visual impacts of the development have not been properly assessed. These issues are already listed within paragraph 29 of the report.

Graeme King, representing the applicant, commented as follows:-

·         The application site had been the subject of an earlier planning application in 2016 and following public consultation the application was withdrawn for revision to address the concerns raised during the consultation. The revised application was before the Committee today.

·         The proposed eastern extension in the original application had been withdrawn and it was now proposed to extend the application in a westerly direction and to make various alterations to the existing quarry detailed in the report.

·         The route of the Public Right of Way was not affected by the new proposals.

·         The applicant proposed to rescind their interest in an area of land lying to the north of Mill Lane as a swap for planning permission to work the proposed extension area which offered an amenity benefit which outweighed any policy considerations or impacts associated with the proposal.

·         The livelihoods of seven employees and fifteen others indirectly associated with the site would be protected if the application was approved.

·         It was not proposed to change the hours of operation.

·         HCVs visiting and leaving the site were required to follow a route which avoided them having to pass through the village of South Witham and the applicant welcomed a further legal agreement to continue this routeing arrangement.

·         The application was accompanied by an Environmental Statement which had not identified any issues.

Graeme King responded to questions by the Committee as follows:-

·         There were dust and access issues to the site, especially through Thistleton, of a historical nature associated with. If the applicant had not thoroughly complied with these conditions, how confident was he of addressing similar issues in the current application? Graeme King stated that quarries were inspected on a regular basis by the Minerals Authority. He was not aware of any issues associated with the site. He stated that he was aware of other businesses in the vicinity of South Witham and therefore there could be an issue of identifying vehicles by local people. He stated that anyone having concerns should, in the first instance, report them to the site manager.

·         Could the applicant explain the figures for the amount of traffic generated from the new site which was larger than the rescinded site? Graeme King stated that officers had examined the figures and considered that there was not a problem. Graeme King explained the movement of HCVs associated with the new site and added that the extraction period was over a longer period.

With regard to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.