Agenda item

An application had been received from Forterra Building Products Ltd, the owner and operator of Waingroves Quarry (a brick clay quarry near Ripley) and was seeking planning permission to import and stockpile temporarily 50,000 tonnes of Pulverised Fuel Ash (PFA) at the current clay stockpiling area at Waingroves Quarry.

A report on the application by the Executive Director for Place had been

published with the agenda, which explained that the applicant sought to

use, on a temporary basis, part of the existing clay stockpiling area

within the site to import 50,000 tonnes of Pulverised Fuel Ash (PFA) for

stockpiling before exporting to brickworks for production of Thermalite

blocks. The PFA would be transported from Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power

Station which was due to close and provided an opportunity to ensure

the ongoing supply of the applicant’s brickworks interests by storage of

the PFA at the Waingroves Quarry site.

The report also referred to the PFA being imported over a 12 week period.

The location of the PFA stockpile would be within the established clay

stocking areas with the clay stockpiles reduced in scale during its use.

The PFA would then be exported on an ‘as need’ basis to the

applicant’s Thermalite factories. The PFA would be fully exported by the

end of 2024 and, as such, temporary permission was sought for this

period.

The report also included details of the consultation process, publicity, objections, observations, comments received, and commentary on the planning considerations.

The site was located within the Green Belt. Amenity and landscape

impacts had been considered and no significant adverse impacts were

identified. The proposal is considered to comply with development plan

policies in the Amber Valley Borough Local Plan (AVBLP) and the

Derby and Derbyshire Minerals Local Plan (DDMLP).

In the morning of 31 October (the day of the meeting), members of the Committee had carried out a visit to the site.

The Development Management Team Leader provided an oral

summary of the main aspects of the proposal, including a presentation of

slides showing plans and views of the site, and informed members of a

further consultation response that had been received by email

following publication of the report, from Amber Valley Borough Council

(Principal Pollution Officer) on Environmental Health matters, copies of

which were circulated at the meeting. The consultation response

drew attention to existing environmental controls at the quarry, of which

officers had been aware when preparing the report.

Councillor D Williams, Ripley Town Council attended the meeting and

commented on the potential for increased daily volume of traffic and the

need for traffic management, with other ongoing developments already

in the area.

Members in discussion referred to some aspects of the application that were mentioned in the report. Particular reference was made to the importation period being referred to as 12 weeks in the body of the report but as 4 months in the conditions listed. The Team Leader Development Management explained that whilst the applicant was working towards a 12 week target for importation that it was anticipated that it could take a little longer, and that had been accounted for in the condition listed.  The discussion did not raise any other relevant planning considerations that were not addressed by the report.

RESOLVED that planning permission be granted subject to conditions

substantially similar to the draft conditions contained in the Executive

Director’s report