Meeting documents

To consider a report by the Service Director Environment, Infrastructure and Economy on:-

·        Planning application No.WD/D/18/002145 -Variation to conditions of permission WD/D/14/00839 to enable changes to the restoration details and the removal of redundant conditions relating to mineral extraction (previously permitted by "Determination of conditions on an Interim Development Order (IDO permission)); and 

·        Planning application No. WD/D/18/002258 Variation to conditions of permission WD/D/14/000840 to enable changes to the restoration details and the removal of redundant conditions relating to mineral extraction (previously permitted by "extraction of sands and gravels from areas which have been previously worked; regularisation of areas which have historically been used for the extraction of sands and gravels and further extraction in intervening areas"); and

·        Planning application No WD/D/18/002259 Variation to conditions of permission WD/D/16/002906 to enable changes to the restoration details and the removal of redundant conditions relating to mineral extraction (previously permitted by "Consolidation of mineral planning permissions").

The Committee considered a report by the Planning and Regulation Manager on three planning applications:-

·          WD/D/18/002145 - Variation to conditions of permission WD/D/14/00839 to enable changes to the restoration details and the removal of redundant conditions relating to mineral extraction (previously permitted by ‘Determination of conditions on an Interim Development Order’ (IDO permission));

·      WD/D/18/002258 Variation to conditions of permission WD/D/14/000840 to   enable changes to the restoration details and the removal of redundant conditions relating to mineral extraction (previously permitted by ‘extraction of sands and gravels from areas which have been previously worked; regularisation of areas which have historically been used for the extraction of sands and gravels and further extraction in intervening areas’); and

•     WD/D/18/002259 Variation to conditions of permission WD/d/16/002906 to enable changes to the restoration details and the removal of redundant conditions relating to mineral extraction (previously permitted by "Consolidation of mineral planning permission).

The three planning applications all served distinct purposes and were integral and adjacent to each other in the overall context of the development, and were designed to seek the same outcomes, this being to:

•        extend the restoration period from the 31 December 2018 to the 31 July 2019

•        make relatively small amendments to the restoration contours and the size and shape of some of the waterbodies

•        formalise a Landscape and Ecological Management Plan (LEMP)

•        remove the redundant planning conditions that were now no longer relevant as a result of the cessation of mineral extraction.

With the aid of a visual presentation, and taking into consideration the provisions of

the Update Sheet appended to these minutes, officers described the proposals and planning issues in detail, what these entailed and what they were designed to achieve. A brief history of the site and its quarrying usage was also drawn to members’ attention. Plans and photographs were used to show the characteristics of the site now, its location and to describe what activities were to take place and how this would be done. The site’s land form and its context within the surrounding landscape was shown, with views from within and around the site, showing the topography and geology therein. The way in which the proposed restoration activities were to be undertaken were described in detail by officers. Arrangements for the way in which the water levels at the site were to be managed, the development’s progression and the relationships thereof, were also described.

The proposal was designed to allow sufficient time for groundworks at the site to be satisfactorily completed so as to provide the configuration of the fundamental landform necessary for the Silverlake holiday home complex to be constructed on the outskirts of Crossways. The reason for these applications was so that the applicant - Habitat First Group – now needed more time to profile the available material than had originally been anticipated to create landforms necessary for the Silverlake development. The applications also proposed changes to the landform to better accommodate the available material. One of the changes to the landform close to Knighton Heath Wood was within the setting of Huck Barrow, a scheduled monument. It had been concluded that the changes did not affect the setting of the monument and would also improve nature conservation on the site.

The changes being proposed would not only extend the duration of the project but would see the previously agreed landform levels and lake dimensions being altered slightly from those previously approved. However the overall effect would remain broadly similar.

Critically, given that a housing complex was to be constructed adjacent to those bodies of water and the benefits this would bring in playing an integral part in the attractiveness of the development, it was necessary that those water levels were accurately evaluated and engineered and, subsequently, closely monitored. The water levels within the proposed water bodies had been more precisely designed than would otherwise be the case, with any other minerals restoration project that did not have a housing after use not requiring this consideration.   

Officers anticipated that if engineered as proposed, the hydrology of the site 

 would be able to be balanced without the need for any alternative discharge system, although there were satisfactory contingency arrangements in place should that need to happen. Hydrological monitoring would provide confidence in how the lake’s water levels were being managed across the site so as to be able to take reactive measures if necessary.

The consultation exercise had shown that the County Councillor for Linden Lea; West Dorset District Council; Crossways Parish Council and Knightsford Parish Council Group had all raised no objections to the applications. For the reasons set out, officers were recommending that the application s should be approved accordingly.

Having been assured of the arrangements in place to ensure that the water levels were engineered to a high specification and, subsequently, that an after care management plan provided the necessary monitoring and having had the opportunity to consider the merits of the application in detail andhaving had their questions answered satisfactorily, the Committee were satisfied in their understanding

of what the proposals entailed.

Given this, the Committee, agreed that planning permission should be granted subject to the conditions set out in the Service Director’s report and taking into account the provisions of the Update Sheet and, on being put to the vote, it was

Resolved