Issue - meetings

County Council Consultation request for the permanent retention of the existing Salt Ayre Materials Recycling & Transfer Facility.

It was proposed by Councillor Colin Hartley and seconded by Councillor Robert Redfern:

“That Lancaster City Council object for the reasons given in the Committee Report.”

Upon being put to the vote, 14 Councillors voted in favour of the proposal with none against and 1 abstention, whereupon the Chair declared the proposal to have been carried.

Resolved:

That Lancaster City Council object for the reasons given in the Committee Report:

1.    The site is allocated as a Key Urban Landscape, an important open area proving a setting to the main urban areas. Policy EN5 seeks to safeguard these areas, preserving their open nature, and great importance is placed on protecting these areas. With no defined end date proposed, nor a restoration scheme for buildings and equipment to be removed and land restoration on a defined date or within a set number of months on cessation of use, the site would remain developed and industrial in perpetuity, detrimental to the visual amenity of the area and wholly inappropriate within the Key Urban Landscape. The existing buildings and structures are poor quality in design and contribute negatively to the character and appearance of the area, and not a feature the LPA would grant permanent consent for. Permanent planning permission cannot be supported, and a restoration scheme for any temporary permission is considered essential. Accordingly, the proposal fails to comply with Policies DM29, DM46 and EN5.

2.    The red edge boundaries on the two plans submitted are inconsistent, and it is not clear which boundary defines the land forming this planning application. Furthermore, the plans also show a different boundary to that of the lease agreement between the applicant and Lancaster City Council as landowner. 

3.    The site lies within an Air Quality Management Area and insufficient information (ie no Air Quality Assessment) has been submitted to enable consideration of air quality and air pollutants. Therefore the scheme fails to accord with Policies EN9 and DM31 and the Low Emissions and Air Quality Planning Advisory Note.

4.    The site lies close to environmentally important areas, including the River Lune, Lune Estuary and Morecambe Bay, which are nationally and internationally designated for their ecological importance. Although the application is for a continuance of an existing use, no biodiversity report has been submitted to assess the impacts of this on the local wildlife populations and habitats. Furthermore, the supporting documents to not consider potential harm on the designated sites (protected under the Habitat Regulations), or other potential impact pathways, and no means of biodiversity net gain have been proposed. As such, the proposal fails to conserve and enhance biodiversity and the natural environment, contrary to Policies DM44 and EN7.