Planning Permission Refused

Extract from Trafford Planning Committee Minutes of the Planning Committee Meeting (Thursday 10th November)

APPLICATION FOR PLANNING PERMISSION 76153/FULL/2010 – PEEL ENERGY LIMITED – LAND TO THE SOUTH OF MANCHESTER SHIP CANAL AND WEST OF BARTON BRIDGE, DAVYHULME

The Chief Planning Officer submitted a report concerning an application for planning permission for the erection of a 20 megawatt biomass fuelled renewable energy plant with associated access, car parking, internal roads, canal side mooring and landscaping.

RESOLVED:  That planning permission be refused for the following reasons:-

The proposed development of a facility which involves the incineration of biomass fuels would, by reason of its scale of operation, presence and location, have a detrimental impact upon the vitality and attractiveness of, and the self-confidence of communities within, the nearby established residential areas of Davyhulme, Flixton and Urmston and would thereby prejudice the continuing regeneration and improvement of these areas  which have been identified by the Council as being in need of investment .  The proposal would therefore be contrary to Policy WD5 of the Revised Trafford Unitary Development Plan.

The proposed development raises significant concerns amongst nearby communities that, on the basis of publicly available  and respectable scientific evidence about possible adverse impacts of the incineration of biomass waste, it would contribute to a substantial reduction in air quality in an area which is already designated an Air Quality Management Area.  As a result there is a widely held objective perception substantiated by independent objective scientific evidence that the development poses an unacceptable risk to the health and safety of those communities.  Government guidance as set out in Planning Policy Statement 23 Planning and Pollution Control states that the objective perception of unacceptable risk to the health and safety of the public arising from a proposed development is a material consideration which should be taken into account when determining a planning application.  The nature and extent of the perceptions held by people living in nearby communities with regard to the risk to health and safety arising from the proposed development is such that it has considerable weight when considered against the proposal and requires that the proposal should be refused.