PLANNING - Northamptonshire County Council...The existing scrap yard was until recently operated by...

LANNINGP

STATEMENT

Tweed

Northampton

Road,

PLANNING STATEMENT

Tweed Northampton Road,

Description:

Operational

metal. scrap processsing for site the of use the for approval

and parts salvaged of sale with vehicles motor of dismantling and storage for site the of use lawful to related development

Applicant:

Recycling Lives

Date :

December 2018

Planning Statement

Contents

Page

1 Introduction 1

2 Who are Recycling Lives? 2

3 Site Description and Application Proposals 6

4 Planning Judgement

10

5 Conclusion 14

Appendix 1: 1994 Planning Permission 94/0356

of 15 Recycling Lives : Land east of Tweed Road, Northampton Ref. 1953: Planning Statement: Dec 2018

1. Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1. De Pol Associates Ltd are retained by Recycling Lives Ltd to secure Full planning permission for

their proposals relating to an existing scrap yard located to the east of Tweed Road, south of

the A4500 in Northampton.

1.2. The application seeks approval for (i) operational development related to the lawful use of the

site for the storage and dismantling of motor vehicles with sale of salvaged parts and (ii)

approval to also use the site for the processing of scrap metal.

1.3. This Planning Statement provides background information on the applicant Recycling Lives,

describes the application site and the proposed development, together with providing an

appraisal of the merits of the proposals in the context of relevant planning policies. The

Statement should be read in conjunction with the following documentation as submitted with

the planning application:-

• Completed application forms.

• Location Plan ref. TRI-2512-01.

• Proposed Site Plan ref. TRI-2512-02.

• Proposed depollution building Plans & Elevation ref. TRI-2512-04.

• Proposed Office building Plans & Elevations ref. TRI-2512-03

1.4. For reasons identified in this Statement it is considered that based on planning policy and

material considerations the proposals represent appropriate development and that planning

permission ought to be granted.


2. Chapter 2

Who are Recycling Lives

2.1. The applicant, Recycling Lives, is both a commercial organisation and a registered charity, with

social values and environmental responsibility at its core. In summary, the business targets

recycling markets, processing previously difficult to recycle items and making working

components available for re-sale where possible. In so doing it diverts products from landfill

and contributes significantly to environmental improvement. Furthermore, profits from the

commercial services support the charity and social enterprises providing social welfare

programmes, aimed at tackling homelessness, worklessness and food poverty, together with

assisting offender rehabilitation. The company also provides employment opportunities for

vulnerable people with many of the employees in Recycling Lives, who employ over 300

people nationally within the commercial organisation, being from marginalised or

disadvantaged backgrounds. Many have also taken part in one of Recycling Lives charitable

programmes.

2.2. Recycling Lives have on several occasions been awarded the Queens award for Sustainable

Development due to its skill in linking social enterprising with social wellbeing programmes.

Further details of the commercial and charity activities are provided below.

Recycling Lives Commercial Activities

2.3. The limited company is an award-winning recycling company established over 40 years ago,

who provide industry leading waste management solutions. Their commercial operations

include:

• Metal processing, with the main Recycling Lives site at Preston being home to the UKs

first online fragmentiser and processing centre. The fragmentiser includes highly

sophisticated metal recovery technology allowing the recovery of a greater amount of

valuable metals for recycling.

• Depollution and recycling of end of life vehicles. An end of life vehicle (ELV) is essentially

a motor vehicle which has come to the end of its useful life, either due to natural wear

and tear or due to accident, fire or vandalism damage etc. Approximately 2 million ELVs

http://www.recyclinglives.com/news/recycling-lives-wins-second-queens-award-for-sustainable-enterprise/

http://www.recyclinglives.com/news/recycling-lives-wins-second-queens-award-for-sustainable-enterprise/


end up at scrap yards each year in the UK and they are classed as hazardous waste.

Recycling Lives dismantle and recycle these ELVs in an environmentally friendly manner,

in line with European Directives / Regulations. In this respect, by weight a typical

passenger car comprises about 70% ferrous metal, which once separated can be

distributed to steel mills for recycling into new steel. ELVs also contain non-ferrous

metals, plastic and glass which can also sent off for re-use or recycled into new products.

In total, approximately 80% of an ELV is ultimately recycled/reused, whilst much of the

non-recyclable material can be used for energy recovery. The recycling process therefore

significantly reduces the amount of waste sent to landfill, with current European

Directives / Regulations requiring 95% of ELVs to be recycled and/or used for energy

recovery.

2.4. The Recycling Lives Head office is based in Preston, Lancashire although they have operations

across the UK. As stated, these commercial services help to sustain the Recycling Lives charity

both in terms of funding but also through providing employment opportunities for vulnerable

people who go through the charity’s various programmes. In this way Recycling Lives is

committed to creating social value from its commercial activities, which not only change lives

but also generates huge wider social value.

Recycling Lives Charity

2.5. The award-winning Recycling Lives social welfare charity delivers a range of charitable

activities focussed on tackling homelessness, offender rehabilitation and food poverty.

Challenging Homelessness

2.6. The UK is facing a growing problem of homelessness. Those who are homeless are significantly

more likely to experience physical and mental health problems, and struggle to secure or hold

down work.

2.7. Recycling Lives run purpose-built residential facilities for men facing homelessness, offering

them stable accommodation and a six-stage programme of holistic support, where they

develop life skills, earn qualifications, and undertake work placements with a view to moving

into purposeful employment and stable housing. Residents often have histories of offending,

unemployment, substance misuse or mental illness; all obstacles preventing them from living

stable, independent lives. The programme offers firm foundations from which the residents


can rebuild their lives. There is no limit on time spent living in the charity - men reside for as

long as they need to develop and secure a job that is right for them.

2.8. This residential based course offers life-changing opportunities, helping vulnerable and

homeless people return back to independent living and employment.

HMP Academies

2.9. The UK currently faces a multi-billion pound bill for reoffending as two-thirds of offenders

reoffend within one year of release from prison. Statistics from the Prison Reform Trust

indicate that the lack of employment is one of the biggest factors in reoffending.

2.10. Recycling Lives have set up and operate award winning Academies within a number of Her

Majesties Prisons (HMP). These are self-funded academies which guarantee employment for

all ex-offenders that graduate through their ‘Release Potential’ programme and aims to

combat the rehabilitation and reoffending issues that face prisons.

2.11. These HMP Academies are based within the prison grounds, where inmates work on recycling

processes such as stripping computer towers or TVs down to component parts for recycling.

These men or women earn an enhanced wage, achieve qualifications and develop transferable

skills, as well as gaining valuable experience ahead of release from prison. The charity supports

Academy workers on plans for their release, helping them to secure meaningful work

placements or paid work and stable housing.

2.12. The programme has proven to be immensely successful with a proven high rehabilitation

record. The training and employment which the Recycling Lives HMP Academies offer

therefore has a significant benefit in changing the lives of ex-offenders and reducing

reoffending rates, which also delivers wider social benefit – it is estimated that the saving to

society by an individual no longer needing interventions from the criminal justice system

equates to circa £100,000 for each individual rehabilitated.

Food Redistribution Centres

2.13. Every year UK households throw away seven million tonnes of food waste, whilst 4.7 million

people face food poverty. It was against this backdrop that Recycling Lives partnered with

national charity FareShare in late 2015, to establish the Food Redistribution Centre. Working


with food producers, suppliers and supermarkets, these Centres redistributes surplus goods

which would otherwise go to landfill. The food is distributed to Community Food Members

such as homeless shelters, women’s refuges, food banks, school breakfast clubs, community

groups, day centres and other not-for-profit organisations, providing nourishing meals for

marginalised or vulnerable people.

2.14. The above social activities are sustained by the commercial recycling and waste management

services of the Recycling Lives company.


3. Chapter 3

Application site and proposed development

Application Site

3.1. The application site comprises an existing scrap yard located to the east of Tweed Road, within

the wider industrial / commercial area to the south of the A4500 towards the western edge

of Northampton. The area surrounding the site includes the Sixfields household waste

recycling centre, concrete works, employment and retail uses.

3.2. The existing scrap yard was until recently operated by the Northampton Motor Centre, who

stored and dismantled motor vehicles and sold salvaged parts in line with a planning approval

granted by Northampton Borough Council (NBC) in July 1994 (Council ref. 94/0356 –

APPENDIX 1).

3.3. The site extends to approximately 3.8ha and

comprises a hardstanding area with two metal

containers stacked on top of each other in the north

west corner which have been converted into offices.

The remainder of the site was used for the storage

of cars and tyres which were stacked 2-3 vehicles


high. There is only one access onto the site, which is

on the western site boundary directly off Tweed

Road. The site boundaries comprise palisade fencing.

Description of proposals

3.4. Recycling Lives wish to continue using the site for the storage and dismantling of end of life

vehicles (ELVs) in line with the planning permission. In this respect there is no proposed

change to the approved use of the land. However retrospective permission is sought for the

erection of the aforementioned existing office building (refer to submitted plan TRI-2512-03).

The applicant also proposes to:

• Erect a depollution building. This would comprise a detached building with a footprint of

circa 90m2 and a mono pitched roof ranging between 4.5 and 6.5 metres high. The building

will have one open side to the front and concrete panels to form the other three

surrounding walls, with full details of the building and its location provided on the

submitted plans TRI-2512-02 & 2512-04. The building will house a support frame to enable

the ELVs to be safely raised off the ground.

• Siting of a mobile baler and a 360 degree mobile crane. These will be sited to the south

east corner of the site, as shown on the proposed site plan.

Example of a mobile baler

• Siting of a weighbridge. This will be sited to the north west of the site close to the site

entrance, as per the submitted site plan.

• Siting of mobile storage containers / tanks


• Installation of drainage infrastructure (including interceptor) in compliance with

environmental legislation.

• Erection of a 4.5 metre high concrete panel wall to the rear (eastern) site boundary, the

details of which would be the same as that for the 4.5m high concrete panel walls around

the proposed de-pollution building.

3.5. In addition to the above, the applicant also wishes to process scrap metal on the site which

under the terms of condition 2 of planning approval 94/0356 would ordinarily have required

the written approval of NBC.

Site operation

3.6. ELVs and scrap metal from commercial contracts will be delivered / received on site from a

variety of sources, where they can pass over the weighbridge. The ELVs will be transported to

the site by car transporter trucks holding 8 vehicles with others holding 2. Circa 10 transporter

loads will accessing the site per week. Contracted scrap metal will be brought to the site in

bulkers, with there being approximately 4-5 wagon visits per week.

3.7. The ELVs will be individually moved by fork lift tuck into the depollution building, where they

will be depolluted in line with the appropriate environmental licences. This process involves

the draining of fluids from the vehicles, for example fuel, engine oil, cooling liquids, antifreeze,

brake fluids etc. It also involves activities such as the removal of oil filters, tyres, catalytic

converters, batteries and any parts identified as containing mercury, together with the

removal or neutralisation of potential explosive components such as air bags. During this

depollution process, any reusable non-hazardous valuable car parts such as alloy wheels etc,

will also be removed and sorted. The process takes place by hand, using equipment which has

been specifically designed for carrying out the required depollution operations. The

depollution building will contain support frames enabling the ELVs to be safely raised off the

ground to give above & below access for the depollution activities. Once depolluted the ELVs

will then be moved by folk lift truck to be stored in the south east corner of site adjacent to

the bailer for crushing into a metal bale.


3.8. The baled ELVs will be stored to the rear of the site until ready for transfer off-site to be

fragmented / processed for further recycling. No shredding or fragmentising associated with

the recycling of the ELVs are proposed on the application site itself. The baled ELVs will be

transferred off-site by flatbed trailers and it is envisaged that there will be 3-4 movements off-

site per week.

3.9. The biproducts of the depollution process will be stored, in line with environmental permits,

either within the proposed depollution building, within mobile containers / tanks or on the

concrete hardstanding until ready for transfer off-site.

3.10. Other scrap metal brought onto the site will be sorted by size and grade, with light metals

bailed on-site. Once the quantity of material is large enough to fill an articulated vehicle they

will then be sent off-site for processing. It is envisaged that there would be around two loads

out from the site per week.

3.11. The existing office building will continue to be used as offices / staff room.

3.12. It is anticipated that between 4 to 6 new full-time jobs will be created on-site, including a site

manager, depollution operatives, crane driver and fork lift truck operative. The opening hours

would remain unchanged to those permitted under the terms of condition 8 on the existing

permission, i.e. 08:00-18:00.


Chapter 4

Planning Judgement

4.1. The applicant’s proposed use of the site relating to ELVs already benefits from NBC’s 94/0356

planning permission for the storage and dismantling of motor vehicles. In that respect, the

application for the associated operational development would ordinarily have been submitted

to and determined by NBC. However under the terms of condition 2 of that decision notice,

the applicant’s proposals for the processing of scrap metal at the site would also require

permission. From our discussions with NBC regarding this matter, it was considered that the

proposed processing of scrap metal would result in the application being for a waste operation

and that it should therefore now be treated as an application to be submitted to and

determined by the County Council.

4.2. The proposed scrap metal use would not generate any impacts which are materially greater

than the activities associated with the permitted main use of the site for the depollution and

dismantling of end of life vehicles. Nor would it result in a material change in the character of

the land and would not result in materially different planning consequences. As such the

principle of development should be considered acceptable.

4.3. Some of the proposed operational development set out in Chapter 3 of this Statement

benefits from deemed consent by virtue of Schedule 2 of the Town and Country Planning

(General Permitted Development) Order 2015, hereafter referred to as the GPDO. In

particular, Class I in Part 7 of the GPDO specifically permits development carried out on

‘industrial land’ for the purposes of an industrial process consisting of:

• the installation of additional or replacement plant or machinery (criterion a), provided it

does not exceed a height of 15 metres; and

• the provision, rearrangement or replacement of a sewer, main, pipe, cable or other

apparatus (criterion b).


4.4. When determining whether a site comprises ‘industrial land’ it is necessary to draw a

distinction between the GPDO and the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order,

hereafter referred to as the UCO. The GPDO and UCO have fundamentally different purposes

and the legislative framework is materially different. The fact that the UCO defines a scrap

yard / yard for the breaking up of motor vehicles as a sui-generis use, rather than a Class 5

General Industrial Use, does not therefore preclude the application site from being classed as

‘industrial land’ for the purposes of the GPDO. The GPDO makes no express reference to

imparting the UCO definitions with regards to what comprises “industrial land” for the

purposes of permitted development rights. Instead it relates only to consideration of

permitted changes between use different classes described in the UCO and is an entirely

separate Statutory Instrument. Litigation in the case of Hertfordshire CC v Secretary of State

for Communities and Local Government [2012] EWHC 277 (Admin) considered this matter in

relation to enforcement action against a scrap yard used for breaking up of metal and

machinery for parts and the installation of a metal fragmentiser. It considered Appeal Decision

ref. APP/M1900/C/09/2107105 and Mr Justice Ousley concluded that there must be a clear

distinction between the Use Classes Order and the GPDO. It confirmed that Permitted

Development Rights can and should be applied to sites having a sui generis use classification.

This rationale was upheld on appeal in higher courts (see [2012] EWCA Civ 1473) as the correct

approach.

4.5. For the purposes of Part 7, Class I of the GDPO the definition of “Industrial Land” means “land

used for the carrying out of an industrial process”. In Article 2 of the GPDO, it defines an

‘industrial process’ as “a process for or incidental to any of the following purposes - (a) the

making of any article or part of any article (including a ship or vessel, or a film, video or sound

recording); (b) the altering, repairing, maintaining, ornamenting, finishing, cleaning, washing,

packing, canning, adapting for sale, breaking up or demolition of any article”.

4.6. The activity taking place on the application site is for the purposes of ‘breaking up or

demolition’ of an article, in this case ELVs. As such, under the terms of the GPDO the

application site is used for an industrial process and thus it comprises industrial land. The

application site therefore benefits from the permitted development rights afforded by Part 8

‘Industrial and Warehouse Development’.


4.7. Elements of the proposals, such as the siting of the baler, crane and weighbridge comprise

‘plant or machinery’ well below the threshold of 15 metres in height and therefore benefit

from deemed consent under the terms of aforementioned Part 7, Class I of the GPDO, as does

on-site drainage infrastructure. Whilst the operations on site, for which there is already

deemed planning permission, will need to be carried out in line with any necessary

Environmental Permits it is not for planning and development control to duplicate these

restrictions.

4.8. Whilst the permitted development rights afforded in Part 7 also extend to the erection of an

industrial building (Class H), the proposed depollution building and existing offices exceed the

thresholds set out in the GPDO. Similarly, at 4.5 metres high the proposed boundary fence

would also exceed the thresholds of permitted development. These elements of the proposed

development still therefore require planning permission.

4.8.1. The limited nature of the proposals is such that many of the policies in the Development Plan

and the National Planning Policy Framework are not particularly relevant to this application.

There are no existing natural, built or cultural heritage features on-site or immediately

adjacent the site which would be materially affected by the proposals. Ultimately as the site

is located within an industrial area, the proposed buildings and other operational

development would not be out of keeping with the character of the area either in terms of

their scale or appearance. The site is not on a main road frontage and the development would

have limited impact on the character of the area.

4.8.2. The application proposals will however deliver a wide range of benefits, including:

Delivering waste hierarchy objectives

4.8.3. Recycling Lives dismantle and recycle ELVs in an environmentally friendly manner and in line

with European Directives / Regulations, with approximately 80% of an ELV being

recycled/reused, whilst much of the non-recyclable material is used for energy recovery. The

recycling process significantly reduces the amount of waste sent to landfill and the de-

pollution process, which will be occurring on the application site, is a fundamental element of

this wider recycling process. The application proposals will therefore be assisting in helping

deliver the waste hierarchy objectives.


Economic benefits and job creation

4.8.4. The proposed development will provide between up to 6 new jobs on-site, including a site

manager, depollution operatives, crane driver and fork lift truck operatives. Further stimulus

to the local economy and regional economy will also be generated through business links with

industries using recycled materials and exports.

Social benefits

4.8.5. As highlighted in Chapter 2 of this Statement, Recycling Lives is a registered charity with social

values and environmental responsibility at its core. The profits from the commercial

operations supporting the social welfare programmes. The Company’s ethos also includes

taking on and training local staff for them to become appropriately skilled and then retained

in the business.


Chapter 5

Planning Judgement

5.0. Conclusion

5.1.1. The applicant, Recycling Lives, targets recycling markets, processing previously difficult to

recycle items and making working components available for re-sale where possible. In so

doing it diverts products from landfill and contributes significantly to environmental

improvement. The proposals at the existing scrap yard relate specifically to the depollution of

End of Life Vehicles, which is a fundamental element of the recycling process for ELVs and

assists in the delivery of waste hierarchy objectives.

5.1.2. The applicant will be creating up to 6 new jobs on-site, together with stimulating wider

economic benefits. The profits from the Recycling Lives commercial operations also feed

directly into providing social welfare programmes, aimed at tackling homelessness and food

poverty, together with assisting offender rehabilitation. The company also provides

employment opportunities for vulnerable people with many of the employees in Recycling

Lives being from marginalised or disadvantaged backgrounds. Many have also taken part in

one of Recycling Lives charitable programmes.

5.1.3. The proposals do not involve a material change in use of the land, with the principle of

development already established. Planning permission is only required for the proposed

operational development, although much of this is already permitted under the terms of the

GPDO. The limited operational development would not have a material impact on the

character or appearance of the surrounding area.

5.1.4. In conclusion the proposals comprise sustainable development which would deliver economic,

social and environmental benefits. Planning permission ought therefore to be granted.


Appendix 1

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