Agenda item

Lewis Smith, representing the applicant, commented as follows:-

·         Oldershaws was a well-established, modern and progressive farming company that continued to promote sustainable farming practices whilst meeting the demands of the customer.

·         The company provided 25% of the UK’s onion consumption and the existing operation off Thompson’s Lane made use of the waste onions and dry outer leaves, or shale, by composting them to create an onion compost which was then applied back to the applicant’s farmland.

·         The application would see the current arrangement improved through the addition of a larger concrete pad which would enable efficient windrow composting. In addition, a new covered lagoon would capture of the run-off, which would also be used as a liquid fertiliser on the applicant’s farmland.

·         Inorganic fertiliser was costly to produce and transport and so the reuse of organic arisings from the production of onions represented a logical and highly sustainable way of applying nutrients back to the soil and improving soil structure.

·         The application of the onion compost to the land was that it was a scientifically proven way of breaking the cycle of Onion White Rot, a plant disease and the onion farmer’s worst enemy.

·       Waste onions were brought to the site using agricultural tractors and trailers and put in large piles, as had been the case for over 20 years. With a new concrete area, it was now proposed to tip the onions into long, 2m high windrows which were turned each week until the material was ready to be applied to the land. By increasing the area of concrete available for the composting, the compost dried more quickly which reduced the production of odour and fruit flies, which could occur during the summer months.

·         The site currently accommodated up to 10,000 tonnes of onions each year and the proposal would not see this increased, but simply dealt with in a more efficient and environmentally friendly way.

·         A detailed Odour impact Assessment and Management Plan which sets out how the operations would be managed and in the event that planning permission was granted, the composting regime would also need an Environmental Permit by the Environment Agency.

·         This was not an entirely new proposal, but one which represented a series of measures to improve the existing process on site at Thompson’s Lane, Fosdyke. This represented an improvement for the local environment.

Questions from Members to the applicant included:-

·         Would the percentage of onions processed each year as detailed by the applicant increase disproportionately and cause problems for the local area? Lewis Smith stated that the site was able to produce up to 10,000 tons of compost but did not envisage any increase above this figure which was detailed in the application.

·         Was there a band of silt running under the site as reservoirs should not be built on a site which had silt running underneath it? Lewis Smith stated that he was unable to answer this question as he was not a geologist. He added that a lagoon already existed on the site, that the applicant had consulted the Environment Agency and they had no objections to the proposals.

Councillor M Brookes, the local Member, stated that complaints about odour and flies had been made about the site in the past. However, the planning application with conditions, including an Odour Management Plan and control of flies, would allow the site to be monitored, complaints addressed and control traffic going through the nearby village at Fosdyke.

Councillor P A Skinner commented that the geology should be checked out and then on a motion by Councillor P A Skinner, seconded by Councillor I G Fleetwood, it was –

RESOLVED (unanimous)

That planning permission be granted subject to the conditions detailed in the report.