Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Graham Archibald Hardie.

Councillor Alastair Redman declared a non-financial interest in planning application reference 20/01794/MIN as he had a close friendship with one of the authors of the report of handling.  He left the meeting at this point and took no part in the determination of this application.

Report by Head of Development and Economic Growth

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting which was held on a virtual basis in light of government guidelines and Coronavirus legislation on public gatherings in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.  For the purposes of the sederunt, Iain Jackson, Clerk to the Committee today, read out the names of the Members of the Committee and asked them to confirm their attendance.

 

In advance of the meeting today interested parties confirmed that they would make presentations to the Committee.  Mr Jackson read out the names of those representatives and asked them to confirm their attendance.

 

The Chair, having explained the hearing procedure that would be followed, invited the Planning Officer to present the case.

 

PLANNING

 

David Love, Area Team Leader, presented the application as follows on behalf of the Head of Development and Economic Growth.

 

At the April meeting of the PPSL committee it was agreed to hold a discretionary hearing to determine this application given the level of public interest and degree of complexity of the issues raised by third parties.  The proposal is for an extension to the working area of Kilmartin Quarry. 

 

The application seeks to extend the extraction area of Upper Largie quarry by ~4.8ha to the north east with volume of ~700,000 tonnes for a period of 20 years with an annual extraction of about 35,000 tonnes.  All other respects of the existing permission remain the same, i.e. transportation, processing plant location, welfare facilities, operating hours etc. as previously approved under permissions 15/02114/MIN and latterly the review of old mineral permission, or ROMP, submission reference 18/02399/MIN. 

 

Slide 4 – Location Plan

 

The site is located to the east of Kilmartin village.  Indicated here.  The existing processing area is here and these are the settlement ponds.  This area indicates the original pit with a further approved extraction to the North West and the subject of this application is to the north east. 

 

To provide an indication of distances the processing plant, which is where the noise emanates, is some 450m – 500m away from these houses along the main road, 410m from the property at the junction and Kilmartin Castle bed and breakfast is here and is some 530 metres away.  All distances are as the crow flies. 

 

Slide 5 – 3D aerial photo

 

I have lifted this image from Google Earth and it shows an aerial image in 3D.  Members can clearly the flat valley floor within which the site is located and how the topography rises to the east.  The marker point is an arbitrary point indicating Kilmartin village and generated by Google. 

 

Slide 6

 

The site is allocated as a minerals allocation in the adopted Local Development Plan (LDP) 2015 under reference MIN AL 12-2.  Minerals allocations follow on from that permitted in the development management process so it’s the opposite way of say housing allocations.  It forms part of the required minerals land bank as per the demands of Scottish Planning Policy (SPP).  The operation extracts sands and gravels and provides for the wider area given the nearest such resources are located at Benderloch and Langa. 

 

Slide 7 – location plan supplied by the Applicant

 

Slide 8

 

This is the existing site plan.  Permission has been granted for an extension to the west.  Access is taken via the A846 main road off a single track to a point just north of the centre of Kilmartin village.  You can see the original void, settlement ponds, location of plant, and the current area of extraction and the proposed area. 

 

Slide 9

 

Shows the extent of the Applicant’s ownership.

 

Slide 10 – Extractive Waste Area

 

The European Union Directive 2006/21/EC on the management of waste from the extractive industries sets out requirements for the management of material such as overburden, rock, and process wastes, arising from the prospecting, extraction, treatment and storage of mineral resources and the working of mines and quarries.

The Scottish Government has transposed this Directive through the Planning System in The Management of Extractive Waste [Scotland] Regulations 2010 “The MWD Regulations”.

 

The requirements imposed by the MWD Regulations are dependent on the characteristics of the waste material at individual sites and also the manner and length of time for which it is to be stored. The development has been carefully planned to ensure the best use is made of soils, overburden, and by-products from extraction and processing in accordance with the aims of the MWD Regulations. This also limits the materials and activities subject to the regulations.  In this instance all soil materials are to be used in the final restoration of the site. 

 

Slide 11

 

This shows the proposed restoration scheme.  This is consistent with the previous areas.  The applicant intends to use the over burden and other soil material to grade the site and turn it back into an improved pasture.  An area of tree planting is proposed here as shown by the dark green.  This is an existing hedgerow to be maintained.  The face along the north west boundary will be maintained and enhanced for Sand Martins.  It is interesting to note that this is already a common practice at Kilmartin Quarry providing nesting opportunities where previously none existed. 

 

Slide 12

 

Another site plan demonstrating site levels.  It’s a bit blurry to make out the exact figures but essentially the site has a flat bottom with land rising at the sides. 

 

Slide 13 – Restoration cross sections

 

Existing levels shown by the black line and proposed restored by the green line.

 

Slide 14 – Site plan showing water courses

 

Members can see there are two watercourses one here and here.  This demonstrates the proximity. 

 

Slide 15 – Phase 1 extraction

 

The slide shows the first phase of extraction with subsequent phases working north east. 

 

Slide 16

 

This is the access.  I have taken this image from Google Street View.  You can see the proximity of the access to this property.  The reference to safe access and egress relates to this.  I understand vehicles are known to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.