Issue - meetings

Demolition of existing buildings and redevelopment of site to provide a materials recovery and recycling facility and Civic Amenity Site, incorporating a recovery and recycling building, storage bays, administration office/training building, external processing and storage area, two weighbridges, reuse and extension of railway sidings, and Civic Amenity Centre, together with associated car parking, landscaping, fencing and infrastructure.

Recommendation: Refusal

Resolved: That the application be refused.

Demolition of existing buildings and redevelopment of site to provide a materials recovery and recycling facility and Civic Amenity Site, incorporating a recovery and recycling building, storage bays, administration office/training building, external processing and storage area, two weighbridges, reuse and extension of railway sidings, and Civic Amenity Centre, together with associated car parking, landscaping, fencing and infrastructure.

Introduction of the application

Officers introduced the report, which sought the redevelopment of the Old Coal Yard to provide a materials recovery and recycling facility and Civic Amenity Site. The proposals would provide a Materials Recovery and Recycling Building (MRF), which would provide 15,581 square metres of floor space. A number of storage bays would house materials associated with the construction industry. External Processing and Storage Areas would be provided to the western side of the site for concrete and wood processing and inert material storage. Offices and associated parking would be provided for the site. The offices would be contained within a two storey building. A 220 metre railway platform was also proposed to allow loading and unloading of trains transporting materials to and from the site. The existing rail sidings would be retained and extended. Two weigh bridges would facilitate the weighing of vehicles entering and leaving the site and a civic amenity site would be provided with 22 parking bays.

The only difference between the proposals and the previously refused (2013) application was the reduction in the proposed capacity of the development from 950,000 tonnes per annum to 450,000 tonnes per annum.

A total of 974 neighbouring properties had been consulted, with site notices having being displayed at 22 locations within the Yiewsley and West Drayton area. 239 representations had been received, 2 had been in support, 6 provided general comments and 231 were objections. In addition, 9 petitions in objection to the scheme had been received, containing a total of 3,137 signatures.

The London Plan had designated the site as a strategic industrial location and as an industrial and business area in the local plan. Policies LE1 and LE2 of the Hillingdon Unitary Development Plan sought to retain land within these areas for B1, B2 and B8 uses.

The West London Waste Plan provided a policy framework for the assessment of applications for waste management facilities. The Old Coal Yard site had not been identified as a site for the provision of waste management during the period covered by the Plan. The Planning Inspector, upon examination of the West London Waste Plan, had concluded that the site would not be appropriate for such use. Appropriate sites had been identified and allocated to meet the need for waste management facilities.

The likely traffic impacts of the development were also a cause for concern, with the Council's Highway Officer having raised significant concerns about the quality and accuracy of the Transport Assessment. It was considered that the development would have significant adverse impacts on the free flow of the highway network in the Yiewsley and West Drayton Area and on highway  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19