Agenda item

The Board considered a report of the Chief Executive, a copy of which, marked ‘Agenda Item 8’, is filed with these minutes. The Board was also in receipt of an addendum report which responded to late representations received from the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust, Harborough, Oadby and Wigston Green Party, Mr D. Page CC and Mr P. King CC.

In accordance with the procedures for making representations to the Board, the following persons spoke in objection to the application - Chris Attenborough (Great Bowden Residents Management Company), Cllr. Paul Claxton (Great Bowden Parish Council), Cllr. Phil Knowles (Harborough District Council), Cat Hartley (Director of Communities & Wellbeing - Harborough DC) and Neil O’Brien MP. The objectors raised concerns about highways and traffic, odour, noise, ecology and the local environment, and the use of maize, straw, and poultry manure.

The local member Dr. S. Hill CC spoke and raised concerns about odour emanating from the site, HGV movements, the impact on the water quality of the River Welland and the lack of need for the proposal. Dr Hill CC submitted that paragraph 168 of the National Planning Policy Framework was outweighed by these other planning considerations and therefore the application should be refused.

Lewis Smith (Robert Doughty Consultancy) spoke on behalf of the applicant. In response to a question of clarification from the Board about whether tractors would be used to transport feedstock to the site, Lewis Smith confirmed that the vast majority of all the traffic entering and exiting the site would be HGVs as set out in the Transport Statement, alongside some Fastrac (NB these are higher speed tractors). Members raised concerns that there was still a possibility that some of the feedstock would be transported by tractors and trailers, rather than HGVs, and this could be problematic when the tractors turned off Welham Lane onto the A6. The Local Highway Authority (Leicestershire County Council) confirmed that the Transport Statement did not take account of the possibility of tractors and trailers being used. Some members were therefore of the view that they did not have sufficient information to make a decision on the application.

Members noted that Hursley Park Country Park was located approximately 200m south-west of the site and concerns had been raised around possible harm to habitats within the park. It was also noted that Harborough District Council proposed to create a green corridor connecting Hursley Park Country Park, the James Adler Nature Reserve and three newly secured rewilding plots. Members raised concerns about the possible environmental impacts of the proposal on these sites and stated that further information and analysis was required regarding this issue.

RESOLVED:

That consideration of the application be deferred to a future meeting of the Board to enable further information to be obtained regarding the environmental impacts of the proposal on the green corridor comprising of Hursley Park Country Park, the James Adler Nature Reserve and the rewilding plots, and the potential highways impacts of tractors entering and exiting the site.