Cornwall Council Briefing 2

Briefing for the Leader, the Cabinet, Local members to St.Dennis, the Waste Panel and other interested Members

Waste Planning Authority

1. PURPOSE OF REPORT
This report has two principal aims. These are;

• to provide a summary of the likely timescales associated with any appeal against the refusal of planning permission for the CERC facility; and
• to provide a summary of the potential outcomes of such an appeal.                                               

2. BACKGROUND
The former Cornwall County Council resolved to refuse planning permission for the development of the CERC facility at a meeting on 26th March 2009. The decision notice itself was issued on 31st March 2009. A copy of the decision notice is appended to this report. In accordance with the requisite regulations any appeal against this decision must therefore be received by the Planning Inspectorate by 30th September 2009.

3. THE APPEAL PROCESS
           
Should an appeal be formally lodged it would be the responsibility of officers of Cornwall Council to prepare a case and uphold the decision of the previous Authority.

Assuming that an appeal is submitted to the Planning Inspectorate by 30th September 2009 it is anticipated that the format of such an appeal would be by Public Inquiry. The Public Inquiry is likely to be scheduled no later than March/April 2010 and could last approximately 3-4 weeks. These timescales are indicative and are at the discretion of the Planning Inspectorate. It is anticipated that the Inspectors report would be published within a 2-3 month period following the close of the Public Inquiry. These timescales assume that such an appeal is not subsequently withdrawn or adjourned.
         
4. THE POTENTIAL OUTCOMES

There are a number of potential outcomes to the appeal. These are;

a) The appeal is allowed and development is therefore allowed to commence, subject to conditions and any legal agreements.

b) The appeal is dismissed for the reasons set out in the Inspectors report. The reasons for such dismissal can be critical to the future of energy from waste provision in Cornwall. For example, the main reasons for such dismissal could be based upon;

i) The unacceptability of the design and physical appearance of the proposal and the impact of the proposal in this location. It may subsequently be possible to amend the proposal to overcome such objections via a revised and amended planning application. There would be timescale issues associated with the preparation, submission and determination of such a revised proposal.

Potential timescale for preparation, submission and determination of a revised planning application; 18 months following Inspectors decision.   

ii) The unacceptability of the site itself to accommodate a facility of the size, scale and capacity proposed. It may be possible to locate the facility at another site within the broad area although there are timescale issues with the identification and acquisition of an alternative site and the preparation, submission and determination of such a proposal.
 
Potential timescale for identification and acquisition of an alternative site(s) and the preparation, submission and determination of a revised planning application; 24 months following Inspectors decision.  

iii) The unacceptability of a waste management strategy for Cornwall based upon a single, centrally located energy from waste facility. A refusal on this ground would cause serious delay to the delivery of waste management infrastructure in Cornwall as it would require a fundamental review of waste strategy and policy. 
 
Potential timescale for preparation of a revised waste management strategy and policy for Cornwall and the identification and acquisition of alternative site(s) and the subsequent preparation, submission and determination of planning application(s); 36 months following Inspectors decision.
 
All of the above timescales are optimistic.

The Inspectors decision may involve a combination of any of the three points (i – iii) above.  The above assumes the CERC proposal satisfies the requirements of the Habitats Regulations in terms of “Appropriate Assessment” and that the potential impacts of the proposed development on the adjacent Special Area of Conservation (“Goss Moor SAC”) are acceptable.  At the time of writing this report the council has yet to determine whether an Appropriate Assessment is required, although this will have to be addressed before a final decision on the appeal is made by the Planning Inspectorate.
         
It is possible that the Secretary of State may wish to determine the appeal himself, having considered the Inspectors findings. This would have an additional impact on timescales and is difficult to predict.
 
Following the publication of a report by the Inspector or the Secretary of State there remains a period of six weeks within which any party may challenge the lawfulness of the decision.