Contact: Julia Davey, ext 6732

1. Summary

1.1 Planning permission is sought to vary Condition (4) of Planning Permission No.75970 to vary the hours of operation, for the purposes of achieving earlier restoration at Mount Pleasant Sand and Gravel Quarry, North Common Lane, Sway. The recommendation is to grant permission, subject to conditions.

2. Proposal

2.1 Planning permission is sought to vary the hours of working at the Mount Pleasant Sand and Gravel Pit, Sway, so that working can take place between 0730 and 1730 hours Monday to Friday. Current hours of working are 0800-1800 hours Monday to Friday and 0800-1300 hours on Saturday.

2.2 The site is currently being worked in accordance with planning permission No 75970 (granted 16 April 2003) which amended the restoration scheme approved under Interim Development Order (IDO) Consent No 49266, and allowed the importation of soils. The site is currently permitted to terminate extraction by 30 June 2008 with a further six months for restoration. Working is now progressively moving away from those residents that border the site to the north on Kings Hyde.

2.3 The applicant states that if the proposed hours are acceptable the company will accept a reduction of hours on Saturdays of 0800-12 noon and will try to complete restoration by 31 October 2004.

3. Development Plan

3.1 The following policies apply to the proposal (see attached appendix): Hampshire County Structure Plan Review 1996-2011 (Adopted March 2000) - Policies MW2 and MW3; and Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton Minerals and Waste Local Plan (Adopted December 1998) - Policies 7, 8 and 9.

4. Consultations

4.1 DEFRA, the Council for National Parks, the New Forest Committee and the Highways Adviser raise no objection to the proposal.

4.2 The Environmental Health Officer raises no objection to the proposal but suggests that an end date of 31 October 2004 be set to help ensure that restoration work is completed by this date.

4.3 Sway Parish Council has no objections to the application so long as no objections have been raised by residents in the neighbourhood.

4.4 New Forest District Council's views had not been received at the time of writing.

4.5 The local Member, Councillor Thornber, objects to the proposed change of working hours.

5. Representations

5.1 A letter of concern but not objection has been received from a local resident, disappointed but willing to support the proposal so long as the site is completely restored by 31 October 2004 and no further extension of time is permitted beyond this date.

6. Comments of the Chief Planning Adviser

6.1 The main issues to be balanced by the proposal are those of degree of adverse impact caused to local residents by starting operations at the site half-an-hour earlier versus a significantly earlier restoration date.

6.2 When the IDO was being processed, local residents requested as late a start time as possible. This view is reflected by the current objection of the local Member. But only one other letter of representation has been received, which raised no objection to the proposal so long as the site would be fully restored by 31 October 2004.

6.3 It is acknowledged that an earlier morning start in the waste industry is normally a standard condition of most waste-related permissions. Starting times are normally restricted to between 0630 and 0730 hours, depending on the location. The proposal to start half an hour earlier and end half an hour earlier means that there would be no net increase in noise during the working day. It is also noted that the Environmental Health Officer, like the local residents, raise no objection to the application, subject to the site being restored by 31 October 2004.

6.4 There are insufficient grounds to refuse this application. Unfortunately it is not possible to comply with the request to limit the permission to October 2004 as there is an existing permission until 2008. However, given the limited capacity at the site it is likely that operations will finish in 2004.

Recommendation

That planning permission to vary working hours at Mount Pleasant Sand and Gravel Quarry, Sway (Application No 78331) be granted, subject to the following conditions:

(1) No operations authorised or required by this permission shall be carried out and plant shall not be operated other than during the following hours (to include access and egress of all traffic associated with the development hereby permitted): between 0730 and 1730 hours Monday to Friday and 0800 to 1200 hours on Saturday. No such operations shall take place on Sunday or recognised public holidays.

Reason: In the interests of local amenity.

Advice Note

(2) All other conditions attached to the previous permission (Number 78970) not varied by this permission remain valid.

8089/JD

APPENDIX

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY STRUCTURE PLAN 1996-2011 (REVIEW) (ADOPTED MARCH 2000)

Policy MW2

Permission will be granted for minerals and waste development provided the mineral/waste planning authority is satisfied that:

(i) any adverse environmental or other impacts that the development would be likely to cause are outweighed by a clearly established need for the development; and

(ii) the proposals, where applicable, include a satisfactory scheme of working and landscaping including details of lorry routeing and, in all cases, include satisfactory measures to ensure that the development would not have any unacceptable environmental, traffic or other impact; and

(iii) the proposals, where applicable, provide for the satisfactory and prompt restoration and after-care of the site to a high standard and to a landform compatible with the local landscape and suitable for an agreed beneficial after-use.

Policy MW3

Permission will not be granted for minerals and waste development which is likely to cause material harm to any of the following designated areas and sites:

The New Forest;

Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty;

Special Areas of Conservation;

Special Protection Areas;

Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Sites);

Sites of Special Scientific Interest;

National Nature Reserves;

nationally important archaeological sites and monuments, whether scheduled or not, and their settings;

Conservation Areas;

Listed Buildings; and

Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest on English Heritage's National Register;

except where the mineral/waste planning authority considers that there is an overriding need for the development to take place in the public interest which outweighs the harm that would be caused, having regard to the level of protection given to the designation concerned in legislation or government guidance.

HAMPSHIRE, PORTSMOUTH AND SOUTHAMPTON MINERALS AND WASTE LOCAL PLAN (ADOPTED 17 DECEMBER 1998)

Policy 7

The Mineral and Waste Planning Authorities will grant planning permission for minerals and waste development provided they are satisfied that, where appropriate, the proposed development pays due regard to:

(i) the relationship of the proposal site to other properties and land uses (particularly residential and other environmentally sensitive properties) and the likely effects of the proposed development on the locality by reason of noise, dust, smoke, fumes, illumination or any other factor and the need for buffer zones between the development and residential and other properties;

(ii) the likely volume and nature of traffic that would be generated by the proposed development and the suitability of the proposed access to the site and of the road network that would be affected, in terms of highway capacity and safety and environmental impact, and whether any highway improvements required could be carried out satisfactorily without causing unacceptable environmental impact;

(iii) the likely visual impact of the proposed development and the need for additional planting and screening, including planting in advance of the commencement of the development;

(iv) the need to safeguard the character and amenities of individual settlements and to safeguard open gaps between settlements from permanent development which would cause long-term harm to the function of the land;

(v) the likely effects of the proposed development on and the need to protect and safeguard sites of nature conservation, geological, archaeological, historic, architectural and landscape importance and their settings;

(vi) the extent and quality of agricultural land to be taken by the proposed development and the proposals for its subsequent restoration and the likely effects of the proposals on farm structure and management;

(vii) the likely effects of the proposed development on and the need to maintain the distinctive character of the landscape; the likely effects of the proposed development on and the need to safeguard and protect individual species, habitats and landscape features, including woodland, trees and hedgerows; and the likely effects of the proposed development on forestry and woodland management;

(viii) the likely effects of the proposed development on sites used for recreation and public rights of way and the need to protect or secure the satisfactory diversion of public rights of way;

(ix) the likely effects of the proposed development on and the need to safeguard the flow and quality of watercourses, water supplies, floodplains, groundwater, the drainage of the site and adjoining land and the level of the water table in the locality and the likely effects of the proposed development on the immediate setting of any river;

(x) any potential danger to aircraft from birds being attracted to the site;

(xi) the possible amenity implications of any landfill gas that might be generated at the site and of any provisions that might need to be made to deal with it; and

(xii) the likely cumulative impact of the proposed development in combination with any other significant development taking place or permitted to take place in the locality and the need to minimise the impact of mineral extraction and waste disposal operations by securing, where appropriate, the phased release of sites and progression of working and restoration.

Policy 8

Applications for planning permission for minerals or waste development in the following areas will not be granted save when the development would not prejudice the purpose of the designation and where there is an overriding need for the development to take place in the public interest:

(i) the New Forest Heritage Area;

(ii) Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty;

(iii) National Nature Reserves, Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Special Protection Areas, Special Areas of Conservation and Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Sites);

(iv) Scheduled Ancient Monuments and their settings;

(v) Conservation Areas, Listed Buildings, and sites on the National Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.

Policy 9

Applications for planning permission for minerals or waste development in the following areas will not be granted save where there is an overriding need for the development to take place and any adverse effects can be satisfactorily ameliorated:

(i) Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation and Local Nature Reserves;

(ii) Ground Water Source Protection Zone 1 (Inner Source Protection) areas;

(iii) sites on the County Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.