Agenda item

Approved, subject to conditions

The Committee considered a report which sought approval for the erection of 1 No. 800kw wind turbine and associated works.

 

The Committee discussed the potential impact of the proposal on the area and the suitability of the proposed location.

 

In reaching their decision, the Committee considered the Officers’ report, presentation and written update.

 

Resolved

 

That application 11/00524/F be approved subject to:

 

(i)                 Officers being satisfied, following further discussions, that the condition relating to aviation and radar impact is appropriate.

 

(ii)               The following conditions:

 

(1)               The development hereby permitted shall begin not later than three years from the date of this decision. (RC2)

 

(2)               Written confirmation of the date on which the development first provided electricity shall be given to the local planning authority within one month of that event.  The development hereby permitted shall be removed on or before the twenty fifth anniversary of the date on which the development first provided electricity, and the land restored to its former condition in accordance with a restoration scheme submitted not later than the twenty fourth such anniversary to and approved in writing by the local planning authority.  The restoration scheme shall include, among other things, a timescale for the restoration of the site after the removal of the development, a description of the measures to be taken in the demolition and removal of the development hereby permitted and of the measures to be taken to ensure that contemporary standards of pollution control and protection of public and neighbouring interests will be met.

 

(3)               No development shall take place until details of the external colours and finishes of the development hereby approved have been submitted to and approved in writing by the local planning authority.  Thereafter the development shall be carried out as approved and the agreed colours and finishes shall not be changed without the prior written consent of the local planning authority. (RC4A)

 

(4)               The development hereby permitted shall be carried out in accordance with the following approved plans:  

(i)                 Drawing No. CHMSA150311-1 dated 15/03/11

(ii)               Drawing No. CHMSA150311-2 dated 15/03/11

(iii)             Drawing No. 60mHM – KW1, 60m HiMast Class 1 Received 7 June 2011

(iv)              Drawing No. 07/446-E01 dated 09.11.2007 Received 7 June 2011

(v)                Additional Planning Information document dated March 2011

 

(5)               No development shall take place until a construction method statement has been submitted to and approved by the local planning authority, including measures to secure: i) The monitoring and control of noise, vibration and dust caused by construction activity on the site; ii) Control of pollution or sedimentation and responding to any spillages or contamination during the construction phase, including among other things oil interceptors to serve vehicle parking and hardstanding areas; iii) Details of wheel washing equipment to ensure that no material is deposited on the nearby roads from vehicles travelling from the site; iv) The use of impervious bases and impervious bund walls to areas used for the storage of oils, fuels or chemicals on the site; v) Removal of the construction compound and all temporary buildings and the reinstatement of the whole site not subject to built development all within 6 months of the date on which the development first provided electricity; vi) The use of only approved routes to and from the site by traffic associated with the construction of the development hereby approved, or its decommissioning, and arrangements for parking and access at the site and for the storage of plant and materials there; vii) That no construction machinery shall be operated on the site, no process carried out on the site other than between 08:00 and 13:00 on Saturdays or between 07:30 and 18:00 on Mondays to Fridays unless previously approved in writing by the local planning authority, with no deliveries on Sundays or on Bank or other public Holidays; viii)Arrangements for outdoor artificial lighting (if necessary) so as to prevent nuisance to surrounding properties. Development shall be carried out in accordance with the approved construction method statement. (RC84)

 

(6)               No development shall take place until a shadow flicker mitigation scheme has been approved in writing by the local planning authority.  The development shall be operated in accordance with the approved mitigation scheme.

 

(7)               No development shall take place until a baseline television reception study has been carried out in an area previously approved in writing by the local planning authority, and the results submitted to the local planning authority.  Details of works necessary to mitigate any adverse effects to domestic television signals caused in the survey area by the development shall, if approved in writing by the local planning authority, be implemented before the turbine blades are first fitted.  A scheme for subsequent reactive mitigation in response to independently validated claims that television reception is impaired by the development, shall be submitted for approval by the local planning authority.  The turbine shall not be brought into use until the reactive mitigation scheme has been approved, and the approved scheme shall be implemented for the life of the development.

 

(8)               Written confirmation of the submission of the following details to the Ministry of Defence and the Civil Aviation Authority shall be provided to the local planning authority within 3 months of the date of this permission and there shall be no development until such confirmation has been given:

(i)                 Proposed date of commencement of the development; and,

(ii)               The maximum extension height of any construction equipment to be on the site.

Written confirmation of the submission of the following details to the Ministry of Defence and the Civil Aviation Authority shall be provided to the local planning authority within 14 days of the completion of construction of the turbine:

(a)               Date of completion of construction;

(b)               The height above ground level of the highest part of the built development (anemometry mast or turbine rotor tip);

(c)               The latitude and longitude of the highest part of the built development; and,

(d)               The lighting details of the site.

 

(9)               If the wind turbine hereby approved fails to provide electricity for a continuous period of 9 months then a scheme for the decommissioning and removal of the turbine and any other ancillary equipment and structures relating solely to that turbine shall be submitted within 2 months to the local planning authority for their written approval.  If the turbine remains failed at the end of a continuous 12_month period (including the initial 9 months previously mentioned) then it shall be removed in accordance with the approved decommissioning scheme.  The decommissioning scheme shall set the timescale for removal.

 

(10)          That prior to the commencement of development pre-works checks must be carried out in relation to badgers and water voles and that in the event of circumstances having changed since the initial Phase 1 Habitat survey was carried out in April 2009 further mitigation and method statements will be required.  The results of the pre-works checks and if necessary the mitigation measures and method statements shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority prior to the commencement of development. (RC86A)

 

(11)          SC 9.4A Carry out mitigation in ecological reports (RC85A)

Recommendations of the Dormouse Report by Baker Shepherd Gillespie dated January 2010 and the recommendation of the Ornithology Report by Baker Shepherd Gillespie dated January 2010 and the recommendations set out in the applicants email dated 21 June 2011 relating to reptiles

 

(12)          No development shall take place until an ecological method statement has been approved in writing by the local planning authority.  The ecological method statement shall include arrangements for the following: i) The provision of an Ecological Clerk of Works; ii) Details of and siting for bat roosts and bird nest boxes, including the timing of their provision; iii) The execution of the works generally relating to those measures set out in the ecological reports provided with the application. The development shall be carried out and operated in accordance with the approved ecological method statement. (RC86A)

 

(13)          No development shall take place until a scheme to dispose of foul and surface water has been approved in writing by the local planning authority.  The surface water drainage scheme shall be based on sustainable drainage principles and shall include an assessment of the hydrological and hydro geological context of the development.   The surface water drainage system shall contain the 1 in 100 year storm event with suitable allowance for climate change.  The scheme shall also contain details of the changes to the ground levels, surface details of the access road and working platform and SUDS system.  The approved scheme shall be implemented before the development is brought into use.  (RC88A)

 

(14)          All cabling on the site to and from the wind turbine shall be underground.

 

(15)          The turbine shall have an installed generating capacity of at least 0.8 megawatts.

 

(16)          No wind turbine shall be operated on the site until a scheme has been submitted to and agreed with the Local Planning Authority for monitoring noise levels at up to five selected residential locations (or at representative locations close to those properties, to be agreed with the Local Planning Authority) during six months following connection to the electricity grid and full operation of all the turbines on the site.  The duration of such monitoring shall be sufficient to provide comprehensive information on noise levels at a representative range of wind speeds and wind directions with all wind turbines operating.  Monitoring shall be carried out in accordance with the approved monitoring scheme and the results provided to the local planning authority within four months of completion of the scheme.  (RC53AA)

 

(17)          No development shall take place until there has been approved by the local planning authority details of a nominated representative for the development and their contact arrangements to act as a point of contact for the public available by convenient means on at least six days each week together with the arrangements for notifying and approving any subsequent change in the nominated representative.  The approved representative shall work within the approved details and shall have responsibility for liaison with the local planning authority in dealing with any noise complaints arising from the development during the period from start of work to completion of final site restoration.  In the event that the local planning authority has given written notice to the wind farm operator three times in any 12_month period that it finds the nominated representative to be not working within the approved details, the wind farm operator shall replace the nominated representative, within two weeks of receipt of the third written notice, with an alternative who has been approved by the local planning authority.

 

(18)          No development shall take place until written confirmation has been provided to the local planning authority that a Safety Report has been submitted to and approved in writing by the operators of London OxfordAirport in consultation with the Civil Aviation Authority in relation to the safe operation of London OxfordAirport with the proposed wind farm in place.  The turbines shall only be operated in accordance with the terms of the Safety Report.

 

(19)          No development shall take place until written confirmation is received by the local planning authority and approved in consultation with London Oxford Airport and the Civil Aviation Authority that radar mitigation measures in accordance with CAP 764 (Policy and Guidance on Wind Turbines) (and any other relevant CAA guidance in force at the time) can be implemented by London Oxford Airport such that a radar operation at London Oxford Airport will be safe when the turbines become operational.

 

(20)          The intensity of air navigation warning lights fitted to the turbines and anemometry mast shall not exceed 25 (to be confirmed) candela, except with the written approval of the local planning authority.

 

(21)          The development hereby approved shall not be brought into use until written notice, signed by a Member of the Institution of Structural Engineers, has been provided to the local planning authority to the following effect:

(i)                 That the manufacture of the wind turbine conforms to European Standard IEC61 4001; and

(ii)               That the design and installation of the installation as a whole has been carried out in compliance with BS EN 614001:2005 Wind turbines Design requirements. The maintenance operation and removal of the installation as a whole shall comply with BS EN 614001:2005. 

 

(22)          All existing trees, shrubs and other natural features not scheduled for removal shall be fully safeguarded during the course of the site works and building operations (see BS 5837: 2005). No work shall commence on site until all trees, shrubs or features to be protected are fenced along a line to be agreed with the Local Planning Authority.  Such fencing shall be maintained during the course of the works on site. No unauthorised access or placement of goods, fuels or chemicals, soils or other materials shall take place inside the fenced area.  (RC72)

 

(23)          Before any works commence on site, details of the design of building foundations and the layout, with positions, dimensions and levels, of service trenches, ditches, drains and other excavation on site, insofar as they may affect trees and hedgerows on or adjoining the site, shall be submitted to and approved by the Local Planning Authority.  (RC72)

 

(24)          All existing hedgerows shall be retained, unless shown on the approved drawings as being removed. All hedgerows on or immediately adjoining the site shall be protected from damage for the duration of works on the site. This shall be to the satisfaction of the Local Planning Authority in accordance with relevant British Standards (BS 5837: 2005).

 

(25)          That the developer shall inform the Local Planning Authority, in writing, of the date of installation of the meteorological testing mast and that at the expiration of 18 months from the date of installation the mast shall be removed from the site. The land shall be restored to its former condition on or before that date unless the construction of the turbine is to commence within the 6 months following its removal.