From: Development Control (DMW)

Subject: FW: Response from Wadhurst Parish Council WD/2023/6000/CM

From: Clerk <
Sent: 30 January 2023 13:31
To: Development Control (DMW) <Development.Control@eastsussex.gov.uk>
Subject: Response from Wadhurst Parish Council WD/2023/6000/CM

Dear Sirs

Please find below a response from Wadhurst Parish Council:

7.2.2 Application No. WD/2023/6000/CM (County Matter) and consideration of parishioners’ response to the above application (WD/870/CMCL), as circulated to the Planning Committee – Cllr C Moore.

Date of notification: n/a (noted on WDC weekly list of applications, and added to agenda in case WPC Planning wish to provide a response WDC)

Parish Council Consultee expiry date: n/a

Location: FAIRCROUCH DEPOT, FAIRCROUCH LANE, WADHURST TN5 6PT

Description: application for a lawful development certificate for an existing use - use as a household waste recycling centre with disposal skips arranged on the site to provide for easy disposal of heavy items of refuse; with no sewage or trade effluent (including vehicle wash or vehicle steam cleaning

waters) discharged to any surface water drainage system and with any above ground oil/chemical storage tank/container and associated pipework sited and bunded in a manner so as to retain any spillage, and with below ground petrol/oil/chemical storage tank constructed to incorporate appropriate anti-pollution measures. 7.2.3 Application No. WD/2022/3046/F

Object - Previously, this site has been a reception site ONLY with NO processing or oil/chemical storage. Therefore, this must be limited to household reception, otherwise this will amount to a change in use.

We strongly endorse the objects of the neighbours (see below)

‘Dear Matthew Kitchener, I am writing in relation to planning application reference WD/870/CMCL. We live at Faircrouch on Faircrouch Lane, which is very close to the site of the planning application, and will be considerably affected by the proposal. As you will be aware, this follows a previous application WD/859/CM which was withdrawn by the applicant when it became apparent that the application was unlikely to be approved. The previous application raised many concerns, chief amongst them the scale of operations proposed, the implications for traffic volumes in the area, the safety of pedestrians and other road users of Faircrouch Lane given the HGV traffic created, the inappropriate character and nature of operations in an AONB, and the lack of visibility for site access. Although the application is characterised as a CLEUD, the background to the site is that it has not been used in any capacity since 2018. Before then, the site was used as a small scale household waste recycling site for the benefit of the local community, which operated for only 3 days a week. The site generated only modest processing volumes (1,700 tonnes in the last year of operation) and waste was delivered to the site by car, not by HGV. By comparison, the previous application (WD/859/CM) proposed processing 30,000 tonnes of construction and demolition waste per year, to be delivered by 20 HGV deliveries a day (so 40 HGV movements along the lane), six days a week. The current application characterises the use as being for ‘Use as a Household Waste Recycling Centre…for easy disposal of heavy items of refuse’. In the related planning statement (section 1.4), the applicant states that ‘This application seeks a CLEUD confirming the existing lawful use as a waste site and the extent or limitations of that use’. This raises several issues: 1) The description in the planning statement implies the site is currently being used for household waste recycling, which it is not, and has not been for nearly 5 years; 2) The planning application refers to ‘heavy items of refuse’, while the planning statement refers only to ‘waste’. Both descriptions go well beyond what was previously processed at the site, which was household waste recycling. The applicant is seeking approval for a much wider definition of waste than previously processed on the site; 3) The planning statement’s reference to ‘limitations of that use’ implies that the applicant is seeking approval for more intensive use of the site than at any time in the past. In section 1.6 of the planning statement, the applicant requests that ‘ESCC in its capacity as local waste planning authority are therefore requested to confirm the lawful use as a HWRC subject to the conditions and controls set out in the most recent planning permission dated 1996 to apply to the whole Site and issue a certificate of lawful use pursuant to its duty under s.191 of the 1990 Act’. The planning application relating to the 1996 planning permission is not available on the planning register, although the decision notice is on there. The decision notice sets out four conditions relating to the application, including the requirement to develop within 5 years, the preservation of trees, and appropriate measures to avoid water pollution. There is no mention of throughput volumes, hours of operation, or traffic limits in the 1996 decision notice. The planning statement (section 3.26) also states that, in reference to the description of previous operations for 3 days a week and processing of 1,700 tonnes per year: ‘These operational hours and throughput figures however are not the subject of any conditions imposed upon any of the planning permissions noted above and appended and appear therefore to be self-imposed.’ It therefore appears that the applicant is attempting to achieve planning permission through the current application (WD/870/CMCL) for activities which would include those activities detailed in the previous application (WD/859/CM). Those activities were described in Rupert Clubb’s Planning Report dated 5 July 2022 as ‘a permanent and intensive form of development at this site in the High Weald AONB which would be inappropriate by reason of its scale and nature and would not conserve or enhance the natural beauty or landscape character of the area’, and ‘would generate a significant number of HGV movements on a permanent basis which would change the character of traffic within the area and be detrimental by reason of increasing congestion along the B2099, including through Wadhurst village Conservation Area, with the associated effects of noise and disturbance’. I live on Faircrouch Lane. It’s a relatively narrow country road, constantly in use by local pedestrians, dog-walkers and cyclists. There is no footpath, the lane has poor visibility around corners, and in places there isn’t sufficient width for two cars to pass each other. A brief inspection of the lane would confirm that it is wholly inappropriate for HGV traffic. Most importantly, any such traffic would be extremely dangerous for the many pedestrians using it. HGV access to the site will also be an issue. The entrance to the site is located on a bend in the road, near the railway bridge which forms the junction with the B2099. Recent activity on the site has involved lorries seriously blocking the lane as they attempt to negotiate the tight turn into the site. The site itself is relatively small, and it’s hard to see how the site could be laid-out to ensure that any HGVs accessing the site have sufficient turning circle to exit the site forwards, rather than in reverse into the bend of the lane’.

‘I live with my son Oliver at the Lodge, Faircrouch, Faircrouch Lane, Wadhurst TN5 6PT. The planning application WD/870/CMCL relates to a site on Faircrouch Lane which is roughly 40 metres from my house. Any activity on the site will have a substantial impact on the quality of our life. It may also affect our personal safety, if activities on the site result in HGVs attempting to turn into and out from the poorly-sighted and tight entrance to the site, which is almost opposite me. The site has not been used for the last 5 years. Prior to 2018, it was used as a local amenity for collecting household recycling waste, open for 3 days a week only. Throughput of household waste from activities on the site was around 1,700 tonnes per year. Any material increase in the quantity of waste transferred through the site from the prior usage would have a substantial negative impact on me directly, as a consequence of pollution, noise, dust and traffic volumes. Any such increase in throughput from the 2018 usage would therefore constitute an intensification of activities, and consequently a change of use. The Faircrouch Lane site has been the subject of 4 approved planning applications since 1983. The decision notices relating to these applications, together with the explicit subject of each application, as described in each notice, are as follows: 20 June 1983 WD/739/CC Civic Amenity Site for the reception of bulky household waste 26 November 1992 WD/1377/CC Continued use of the existing household waste site at Faircrouch Lane 27 August 1996 WD/1996/6002/FCM Extension of Wadhurst household waste site 11 September 1996 WD/136/CM Extension of Wadhurst household waste site, land adjacent to Wadhurst household waste site, Faircrouch Lane It is clear from these decision notices that the original planning permission in 1983 was for the reception only, and not processing, of household waste. The second notice in 1992 merely confirmed the continued use of the site for the same purpose. The third and fourth notices, both in 1996 (one from Wealden Council and the other from East Sussex County Council) relate only to the expansion of the site onto adjacent land for the same activities. The decision notices all relate only to household waste, and to the reception of that waste on site rather than processing of it. Therefore, if the decision of the council is to issue a CLEUD, it must be limited to household waste, and to the reception of that household waste only, not processing. If there is an intensification of activities on the site compared to the usage prior to 2018, this must be considered a change of use’.

And wish to reiterate our previous comments

“WPC does not support the implementation of a Lawful Development Certificate and is extremely disappointed that the differentiation is not made between residential recycling sites and commercial waste sites

The disruption, inconvenience and associated issues due to traffic movement of a small number of heavy vehicles, was acceptable to the community, while it was a domestic site, as it benefited the residents. However, this site is totally unsuitable for high usage of lorries, not only due to the rural location, but to the immediate access being onto a Victorian brick-built bridge with weight limits and onto a narrow single-track lane.

Please note our previous comments in response to the application WD/2022/6001/CM in respect of Faircrouch Depot

‘COMMENT: Objection. This is not an appropriate location for a waste transfer station for construction and demolition waste. The noise, fines and dust from these activities would affect the amenity of the adjoining business park and nearby dwellings. The stated times of opening are significantly longer than the previous use of the site as a household waste recycling site, further impacting on neighbours’ amenity. Construction site on-site crushing would lessen the carbon footprint and confine the impact of construction activities to construction sites, which would be a temporary, rather than permanent, nuisance for neighbours. The estimated 20 HGV delivering to the site daily would travel through the centre of the village, exacerbating the severe congestion which is already experienced. Faircrouch Lane itself is single lane in places. We are concerned that the bridge over the railway at the entrance to Faircrouch Lane may not be of sufficient strength of accommodate this number of HGVs on a daily basis.”

Kind regards

Claudine