Notice
of Meeting
Meeting
|
PLANNING
& REGULATION COMMITTEE
|
Date/Time
|
Monday
10 July 2006 at 2.00 pm
|
Place
|
County
Hall, Oxford
|
Contact
officer |
Graham
Warrington
(Tel:
01865 815321; E-mail: graham.warrington@oxfordshire.gov.uk
)
|
Application
for a New Bunded Ash Lagoon in Existing ‘ Lake E '
Gravel
Pit Including: Construction of New Ash Lagoon, Including
Working
Clay from the Bottom of the Existing Lake to Form
an
Impermeable Lining to the Sides of New Lagoon, Filling
the
New Lagoon with Pulverised Fuel Ash, Restoration to
Nature
Conservation, Deposit of Silt and Slurry from Lake
E
to
Lake G and Pipe and Drainage Works
Application
RAD/5948/24-CM
Report
by Head of Sustainable Development ( PN6
).
This
application is for the filling of a former gravel
pit at Radley known as Lake E with Pulverised Fuel
Ash (pfa) produced from burning coal from Didcot power
station. The lake is located in a complex of former
gravel pits, most of which have already been filled
with pfa under a permission granted in 1982. Because
this proposal involves raising final land levels and
the lining of the lake with clay to meet environmental
standards set by the Environment Agency, the development
is not covered by the old permission.
The
current disposal lagoons at Radley are nearly full
and it has proved impossible to reuse or recycle all
of the ash produced. In order to continue to generate
electricity Didcot power station must have a disposal
facility for the ash that cannot be reused or recycled.
The power station occupies an important position as
one of the key sources of electricity generation in
the south of England .
Many
objections have been received because the lake and
its surroundings are valued as a local ecological
and recreational resource. There have also been concerns
raised about pollution and flooding issues. However,
these issues are adequately addressed in the Environmental
Statement and the application includes an ecology
led restoration plan. Neither the Environment Agency
nor English Nature have objected to the application.
The adjoining lake, Lake F , is to be retained, ensuring
that some of the most important ecological and amenity
value of the immediate area remains.
The
report concludes that there is a strong need for this
development, and the restoration proposals adequately
mitigate adverse environmental impacts.
It
is RECOMMENDED that subject to:
(i)
a legal agreement, or other suitable legal mechanism,
to be agreed by the Solicitor to the Council to ensure
that areas K, Land M are not used for the disposal
of pfa and to secure long term management of the site;
and
(ii)
notifying the Secretary of State that the proposal
represents a departure from the development plan;
planning
permission for Application RAD/5948/24-CM be granted
subject to conditions in accordance with the heads of
conditions set out in the report.
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