Agenda item

(1)       Mr M A C Balfour informed the Committee that he was one of the Local Members for this application.  He would be participating in the decision-making as a Member of the Committee.  He would, however, be constrained from discussing the merits of the Kent Minerals and Waste Local Plan if this were to form part of the Committee’s deliberations.   

(2)       Correspondence from Mr Alan Chilvers from the Golden Green Residents Association had previously been circulated to all Members of the Committee.

(3)       Ms S Hamilton was present for this item pursuant to Committee Procedure Rule 2.27 and spoke.

(4)       The Head of Planning Applications Group informed the Committee that:

(a)                            the Environment Agency had confirmed its verbal comments set out in paragraph 34 of the report and was satisfied with the proposals in respect of ensuring no silting of surface waters as also referred to in paragraph 21 of the report;

(b)            East Peckham PC has emailed KCC and stated that it had no objection but wanted KCC to ensure the future green credentials of the site (e.g. nature reserves, forest walks and PROWs); and

(c)            although Mr Balfour was referred to as the Local Member for Malling Rural East in the report, he should also have been identified as a Local Member on the front page and that his electoral division covered the extraction area and much of the site (excluding the plant site and access which were in Ms Hamilton’s Tunbridge Wells Rural division).

(5)       The Head of Planning Applications Group informed the Committee that Permission TM/00/1599 had been granted after the completion of a Section 106 Agreement which included obligations in respect of nature conservation and site management (“The Management Scheme”) as well as groundwater monitoring.  The Management Scheme required annual meetings, monitoring, viewing points / information boards, pedestrian access by agreement and the management of the site for 50 years after completion of aftercare and the Scheme (which was approved by KCC on 15 September 2005) provided for attendees from the operator, KCC, Kent Wildlife Trust and the Local Liaison Committee to meet annually to discuss quarry operations, restoration and management. Water monitoring was also meant to be undertaken in accordance with an agreed scheme, with the results being made available to KCC, the Environment Agency and South East Water.

(6)       The Head of Planning Applications Group asked the Committee to agree to a revision to Informative (c) of the recommendation in paragraph 73 of the report. This was agreed and appears in (10) (c) below.

(7)       Mr Peter Miller, Mr Alan Chilvers, Mr Stewart Gledhill (local residents) and Cllr Carol Mackonochie (Tunbridge Wells BC) addressed the Committee in opposition to the application. Mr Brendan Kelly (Tarmac) spoke in reply.

(8)       Mr M A C Balfour moved, seconded by Mr B H Lewis that consideration of this item be deferred pending a Members’ site visit.  He withdrew this motion with the permission of his seconder following detailed advice from the Head of Planning Applications Group on the limited nature of the application and consequent lack of assistance that a site visit could provide in its determination. 

(9)       Mr R A Pascoe moved, seconded by Mr C Simkins that the recommendations of the Head of Planning Applications Group be agreed as amended in (6) above subject to additional Informatives in respect of the need to ensure that all traffic enters the site from the left until the crash remedial work at the Junction with the A228 is complete; that there should be no working on Saturdays and that turning alarms should be replaced by a white noise solution.

                                    Carried 11 votes to 2

(10)     RESOLVED that subject to no extraction or hauling of material to the plant being undertaken on Saturdays and to no tonal reversing alarms being used in the extraction area or on the haul road,  permission be granted to  theproposedamendments tothe workingscheme pursuant to condition 3 ofPermission TM/001599 and that the applicants be advised by Informative that:-

(a)     they needtocontinuetocomplywiththeconditions imposedon PermissionTM/00/1599andthedetailspreviously approved pursuanttheretounless amended bythe detailsherebyapproved;

(b)   they should undertake discussions with KCC Public Rights of Way over the possibility of a new footpath link from east to west in order to link footpaths MT158 and WT171;

(c)   they are encouraged to engage with the local community about its aspirations for the future working and restoration at Stonecastle Farm Quarry, hold regular liaison meetings and invite a representative from the local Liaison Committee to attend the annual meetings to discuss quarry operations, restoration and management in accordance with the requirements of the Management Scheme approved pursuant to the Section 106 Agreement relating to Permission TM/00/1599; and

(d)       until such time as crash remedial works being considered by KCC Highways and Transportation are implemented, all HGVs leaving the site shall turn left onto the A228 Whetsted Road.