Agenda item

Report Attached

The Committee considered a report detailing the application for the construction of a sustainable energy facility comprising the erection and operation of a gasification/power generation plant with associated buildings, plant and infrastructure.

It was reported that conditions 4 to 7 of the report were to be replaced and reworded to reflect Environment Agency recommendations in their letter dated 1 August 2012. In addition, the Section 106 legal agreement was to include an additional requirement for a lorry routing plan so that primary approaches to the site were from the M25/A13 and lorries were not to be routed through Rainham Village during the construction and operation of the development.

It was RESOLVED that subject to:

?           the expiration of the consultation period on 3 August 2012 and there being no new consultation responses received raising material considerations other than those already considered by Committee; and

?           there being no contrary direction from the Mayor of London under the Mayoral referral procedure

The Committee delegated to the Head of Development and Building Control authority to grant planning permission, subject to the completion of a legal agreement and planning conditions. If new material considerations were raised, then the matter would be remitted back to Regulatory Services Committee for its further consideration and resolution.

The Committee noted that the development proposed was liable for the Mayor’s Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) of £18,800.

The proposal was unacceptable as it stood but would be acceptable subject to the applicant entering into a Section 106 Legal Agreement under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended), to secure the following:

?           The safeguarding of an area along the riverside part of the site for use as a future riverside walk.

?           A contribution of £150,000 to be used, either in part or in full, towards any of the following:

-           Thames side path to the south of the application site

-           Public access improvements between Rainham and the River Thames

-           Street lighting along Marsh Way

-           A public bus bridge over Creek Way.

?           A contribution of £1,500 to fund an air quality monitoring program for a period of five years.

?           A clause that the developer employs reasonable endeavours to ensure that the recommendations of the Local Employment and Training Scheme are taken into account by the Construction and Operations Contractors during the respective phases of the proposed development and if requested by the Council, to provide evidence of the measures taken to ensure the compliance of these Contractors with the Scheme

?           A clause providing for the eventuality that, should the neighbouring Flogas site no longer be needed as a COMAH site, that the developer employs reasonable endeavours to provide a conveyor belt between the proposed facility and the neighbouring waste recycling facility to the east.

?           A clause requiring the developer to undertake sufficient work within the site to enable the connection of the proposed facility to a heat network in the area, should one be established in future. The proposal should be connected to the heat network within two years of the network being established.

?           Provision of a Travel Plan for employees of the proposed development to the satisfaction of the Council.

?           A clause that the operator only uses solid recovered fuel, and only that produced at the Frog Island and Jenkins Lane facilities, except under given circumstances.

?           All contribution sums shall include interest to the due date of expenditure and all contribution sums to be subject to indexation from the date of completion of the Section 106 agreement to the date of receipt by the Council.

?           The Council’s reasonable legal costs in association with the preparation of the legal agreement shall be paid prior to completion of the agreement irrespective of whether or not it is completed.

?           The Council’s planning obligation monitoring fees shall be paid prior to completion of the agreement.

That, subject to there being no new material considerations, the Head of Development and Building Control be authorised to enter into a legal agreement to secure the above and upon completion of that agreement, grant planning permission subject to the conditions as set out in the report but with the replacement and rewording of conditions 4 to 7 of the report to reflect Environment Agency recommendations; and the legal agreement was to include an additional requirement for a lorry routing plan so that primary approaches to the site were from the M25/A13 and lorries were not to be routed through Rainham Village during the construction and operation of the development.

In the event that the Section 106 agreement was not signed and completed by the expiry of this application’s determination date on 30 August 2012, planning permission be refused on the grounds that the proposal does not make adequate arrangements:

(a)    for the provision of environmental and connectivity improvements in the local area;

(b)    a Travel Plan;

(c)     an air quality monitoring scheme to measure the impact of the proposal;

(d)    the potential provision of a conveyor belt to provide a sustainable means of transportation between the proposed facility and its waste source;

(e)for providing training/employment opportunities for local people.