PDE Consulting Limited is an independently owned consultancy providing specialist planning, environmental permitting and property advice to land owners, operators and property developments in the UK. Our clients include those in the waste and resource management sector who are working towards a circular economy, biodiversity net gain and carbon neutrality.

We are seeking a motivated and enthusiastic graduate, eager to begin their career in Environmental Consultancy. There is currently an excellent opportunity for a new permanent full time position, within our team based in our Shrewsbury office in Shropshire.

Working in our team, the successful candidate will spend time checking and interpreting data, data submissions to regulators and writing environmental monitoring reports. You will spend a number of days each month undertaking field monitoring works including water quality measurements and sampling across the South East and the Midlands, typically with your colleagues.

When not doing this you will work closely with colleagues to produce environmental permit applications, planning applications, undertaking research and analysis, and assisting with project management. Every one of our projects is different and we need people with the ability to apply a range of problem-solving skills. You will be encouraged to work towards becoming a member of a relevant professional body and be given training and learning opportunities.

Ideal Qualifications/ Experience:

• Degree or MSc in a related subject (e.g. Environmental Science, Waste Management, Planning, Geology, Geography) (2.1 and above);
• Excellent written and personal communication skills;
• Motivated, friendly and confident interacting with clients;
• A strong team working ethic;
• Willing to travel and stay away from home when required;
• Comfortable with occasional site based working;
• Analytical and numerical skills with the ability to pay close attention to detail;
• Competent user of Microsoft Outlook, Excel and Word; and
• A full UK driving licence.

As this is a graduate position previous experience is not essential, although previous work experience would be desirable.

We offer a company pension, competitive annual leave with training and career progression opportunities. We offer a starting salary of £27,500 per year.

If you are interested in joining our dedicated team, please forward an up to date CV including all relevant qualifications and professional memberships and a bespoke covering letter explaining why you want to work for PDE Consulting Limited to suzanne@pdeconsulting.co.uk by 31 October 2024.

On behalf of Land Logical Norlands Lane Limited, a Waste Recovery Plan (WRP) was submitted to the Environment Agency (EA) on 13 November 2023 for the importation of 600,000 m3 of inert wastes to allow essential engineering works to be undertaken at Norlands Lane closed landfill site. The importation and placement of inert wastes will serve to correct the current inherent problems associated with the waste mass and provide optimal management of systems at the site, the optimal collection of landfill gas which is used to create green energy and to minimise uncontrolled emissions of methane. It will also allow essential improvements to surface water drainage, together with the provision of a long-term sustainable landform with associated biodiversity enhancements. On 15 March 2024, the EA responded in a letter to advise that they agreed in principal that the proposed waste operation constitutes waste recovery.

On 01 July 2024 an application was submitted to the EA to vary the permit to add a waste recovery activity. In the interests of protecting human health and the environment, a request was made to the EA for the application to be expedited for determination, so that the works to be undertaken to rectify the issues with the site can start as soon as possible, which was agreed by them. The application was duly made as of 30 September 2024.

On behalf of Land Logical Norlands Lane Limited PDE submitted a planning application to Surrey County Council to allow for the importation of soils to allow for improvements to gas management and surface water drainage, together with the provision of a long-term sustainable landform with associated biodiversity enhancements on land at Norlands Lane Landfill, Egham, Surrey.

The planning application was validated by Surrey County Council on 17 May 2024.

Norlands Lane Landfill has a long history associated with mineral extraction and subsequent landfilling dating back to the early part of the 20th Century. In 1977 a waste disposal licence was issued allowing for the disposal of household, commercial and industrial wastes, though landfilling at the Site is known to date back to 1949. Landfilling at the Site continued up until September 2003, after which the Site was closed and restored.

In the years following restoration the Site has been impacted by significant differential settlement which has resulted in the formation of an undulating surface profile which has given rise to issues relating to the management of landfill gas and surface water. This undulating profile is inconsistent with the original restoration objectives for the Site. These issues combined with ageing landfill gas management infrastructure means that there is now a need to undertake engineering works on the Site to ensure its long term sustainability.

Should planning permission be granted it will allow Land Logical to import 600,000 m3 of soils to the Site over a period of six years. This will allow the correction of differential settlement and the upgrade of the landfill gas management infrastructure which will ensure a greater quantity of landfill gas can be collected and converted to electricity for supply to the National Grid. As part of the proposed development the Site’s surface water drainage system will be upgraded to ensure the sustainable management of water into the future. Following the completion of soil placement operations, the Site will be restored with a number of biodiversity enhancements to deliver a net gain in biodiversity.

On behalf of Marlborough Highways Limited, PDE Consulting Limited submitted an application to the Environment Agency for a standard rules environmental permit (SR2008No11) for the operation of an inert and excavation waste transfer station with treatment at Codham Hall South, Great Warley, Brentwood, CM13 3FB.

The permit application was submitted on 30 November 2023 and the permit was granted on 11 April 2024. From submission of the application to issue of the final permit took approximately 4.5 months.

The granting of this standard rules permit will allow Marlborough Highways Limited to crush and screen inert and excavation wastes, including road planings and hardcore.

On behalf of Green Aggregates Limited, PDE Consulting Limited submitted an application to the Environment Agency for a new bespoke waste operation permit for a road planings recycling facility located on land off Burnley Road, West Thurrock, Essex, RM20 3ED. The Site will be used for the crushing and screening of road planings only. The storage and treatment of road planings will be undertaken in a building with dust suppressions measures installed. Annual waste throughputs are limited in the permit to a maximum of 220,000 tonnes.

The application was submitted on 05 October 2023, it was duly made on 31 January 2024 and the permit was issued on 03 April 2024. No Schedule 5 notice was issued requesting further information. From submission of the application to receipt of the final permit took six months.

The Site will act as a processing hub for planings removed from roads within the region, whereby the material is subsequently processed and recycled for re-use in similar applications. Processed planings will be used in the adjacent asphalt manufacturing process, also to be operated by Green Aggregates Limited, or transported off-site for use elsewhere.

On behalf of Allen Newport Limited, PDE recently submitted a planning application to Suffolk County Council seeking planning permission for the installation and use of a washing plant for the recycling of inert materials together with associated access onto the highway at Cavenham Quarry, Tuddenham, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.

Planning permission was granted by Suffolk County Council on 05 April 2024.

The grant of planning permission is great news for Allen Newport Limited, the washing plant will extract recyclable aggregates which will be processed and classified according to size. These recycled aggregates can then be sold on, providing a valuable alternative to primary aggregate products within the local construction industry. With the removal of recyclable aggregates, the remaining non-recyclable material will be used to facilitate a high quality restoration of the Quarry.

On behalf of Allen Newport Limited, PDE recently submitted a planning application to Suffolk County Council seeking planning permission for the installation and use of a replacement mineral washing plant at Cavenham Quarry, Tuddenham, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.

Planning permission was granted by Suffolk County Council on 05 April 2024.

The grant of planning permission is fantastic news for Allen Newport Limited, as it will allow them to replace the existing processing plant with a new and more efficient plant that will allow the Quarry to continue to process extracted mineral as consented and continue contributing towards meeting the demand for aggregates in the locality.

On behalf of Land Logical Norlands Lane Limited, a Waste Recovery Plan (WRP) was submitted to the Environment Agency (EA) on 13 November 2023 for the importation of 600,000 m3 of inert wastes to allow essential engineering works to be undertaken at Norlands Lane closed landfill site. The main purpose of those engineering works is to capture a greater proportion of the landfill gas produced at the site so that a greater export of electricity to the National Grid can be achieved. The key objective of importing inert and more impermeable waste wholly relates to increasing the now-decreasing volumes of biogas to convert these to electricity for export to the National Grid so that there is a commercially successful operation at the Site.

There are increasing problems in collecting the landfill gas because the Site has suffered from differential settlement which means that the site contours are no longer consistent with the approved restoration plan. This settlement has resulted in a significant reduction in the efficiency of the landfill gas extraction system. Differential settlement has also caused issues with surface water management leading to waterlogging/ ponding on the Site surface. Significantly, landfill gas is escaping through the surface of the previously restored Site and surface water is infiltrating into the wastes causing increased leachate production. Localised vegetation dieback has also been observed indicating that the containment capping is likely to be compromised in parts of the Site. As well as the escape to atmosphere of landfill gas which could otherwise be converted to electricity, this breach of containment could lead to oxygen ingress into the Site which is a fire risk as aerobic conditions that produce heat are likely.

By contrast, when the work is undertaken to introduce the less permeable inert materials to restore the previously envisaged contours, after the replacement pipework has been installed and recontouring taken place, habitat improvement to provide Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) as a marketable product is proposed.

The WRP was submitted to the EA on 13 November 2023 and approved on 15 March 2024.

On behalf of our client The Lyndon Pallett Group Limited, PDE recently submitted four Section 73 applications to Norfolk County Council, relating to developments at Kirby Cane Quarry, Yarmouth Road, Kirby Cane, Bungay, Norfolk, NR35 2HJ. The applications seek to allow for the variation of Condition 1 attached to planning permission references C/7/2015/7018 and C/7/2015/7019; the variation of Condition 2 attached to planning permission reference FUL/2023/0046; and the variation of Condition 5 of appeal decision reference APP/X2600/W/22/3305638, to allow for an extension of time to complete mineral extraction and restoration operations.

The applications were validated by Norfolk County Council on 11 March 2024.

The extension of time is sought following lower than anticipated sales of primary aggregates, which was exacerbated by the Covid 19 pandemic which resulted in a slowdown in activity within the construction sector during 2020 and 2021. Should planning permission be granted it will allow for the remaining mineral reserves within the Site to be extracted and the Site restored in accordance with the approved restoration scheme.

On behalf of our client, Land Logical Limited, PDE recently submitted a planning application to Nottinghamshire County Council and Nottingham City Council to allow for the extraction, processing, sale and distribution of sand and gravel, and subsequent restoration together with the necessary associated infrastructure and access improvements on land off Green Street, Mill Hill and land at Barton in Fabis off Chestnut Lane.

The application was validated by Nottinghamshire County Council on 19 February 2024 and Nottingham City Council on 27 February 2024.

The Nottinghamshire Minerals Local Plan adopted March 2021 has allocated the land at Mill Hill near Barton in Fabis as a new sand and gravel quarry and should planning permission be granted the site will aid in the supply of minerals to the local construction market.

Upon completion of the mineral extraction, the site will be restored to enhance the land for both biodiversity and social gain. Biodiversity Net Gain will be achieved through the creation of a patchwork of waterbodies, reedbed and wetland, scrub, meadow, and species-rich grassland, which will enhance the existing habitats and increase biodiversity within the Site. A full Biodiversity Net Gain calculation has been undertaken which shows the proposed restoration scheme will have a net gain in habitat units of 34.81% and a net gain in hedgerow units of 23.86%. Social Net Gain will also be achieved through enhanced resilience to future flooding events derived from the design of the landscape and, aside from reinstatement of the historic PROW where possible, incorporation of a network of approximately 6.9 km of new permissive routes for public enjoyment, which will be available for use by members of the public at all times by permission of the landowner.