Agenda item

(1)       Mr R A Pascoe informed the Committee that he was acquainted with some of the objectors to the application.  He was also a Member of Shepway DC.  He had, however, not taken part in any discussion of the application and was in a position to approach it with a fresh mind.

(2)       Each Member of the Committee had received lobbying correspondence, including a DVD from objectors to the application prior to the meeting.

(3)       Mrs S J Carey was present for this item pursuant to Committee Procedure Rule 2.24 and spoke.  She also delivered a petition signed by some 2,000 local residents calling for the application to be refused permission.

(4)       The following items of correspondence were tabled:-

(a)               a letter from Damian Collins MP dated 10 March 2011;

(b)               correspondence from the Sellindge and District Residents Association summarising their grounds for objection and suggested conditions if permission were to be granted;

(c)               correspondence from Mrs M Turton to Mr Carter, the Leader of the Council; and

(d)               the notes from the public meeting on 8 February 2010.

(5)       Mr L Baxter (Sellindge Parish Council), Mr R Lello (Sellindge and District Residents Association) and Mr S Furey (CPRE) addressed the Committee in opposition to the application. Mr N Cronin (SLR Consulting) spoke in reply on behalf of the applicants.

(6)       The Head of Planning Applications Group advised the Committee that, with one exception, the list of particular conditions suggested by Sellindge and District Residents’ Association that they wished to be applied to any consent, would all be covered; albeit that the specific wording would need to be drafted in a manner which would ensure their enforceability. The only exception would be their first proposed condition, which called for the requirements of the Environmental Permitting Regulations to be fully met and confirmed to be so by the Environment Agency. This was because it was not a matter for the Committee, as the Environment Agency itself would determine whether a permit would be issued.

(7)       Mr C P Smith moved, seconded by Mr R F Manning that the recommendations of the Head of Planning Applications Group be agreed.

(8)       The mover and seconder of the motion accepted amendments which added a no left turn condition; a requirement that there should be no queuing on the public highway; and an Informative that the buildings should be lowered as far as was possible.

(9)       On being put to the vote, the Motion set out in (7) above (as amended in (8) above) was carried by 14 votes to 3.

(10)     RESOLVED that:-

(a)       permission be granted to the application subject to conditions, including conditions (incorporating Conditions 2 – 12 proposed  by the Sellindge and District residents’ Association) covering waste throughputs; daily vehicle movements; a prohibition on left turning for vehicles exiting the site; the prevention of vehicles queuing on the public highway; contamination risk assessment details; badger mitigation (construction stage and post construction); weighbridge details; access arrangements; access gates and fencing details; signage; code of construction practice; landscaping details; operating hours; noise controls; notification of commencement; a dust and odour Management Plan; and an electricity generation strategy; and

(b)       the applicants be informed by Informative of the Committee’s view that the buildings should be sunk as low into the ground as possible.