PDE Consulting Limited recently prepared a planning application on behalf of FM Conway Limited for the erection and operation of an asphalt plant and road planings recycling facility, ancillary facilities and access on land at Neilson Rail Sidings, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, NN8 4BH.

The application was submitted to North Northamptonshire Council and validated on 29 October 2024.

Should planning permission be granted, the application will allow for the installation of an asphalt plant and road planings recycling facility. The proposed development will allow for road planings to be recycled and reused in the asphalt plant, which presents an important example of the circular economy where the waste output of one process can be used as a material component to another; reducing the need to extract primary resources. The ability for the plant to be able to make use of higher quantities of recycled planings significantly reduces the Applicant’s demand on virgin aggregates.

The Proposed Development will create a highly sustainable form of development through the proposals to import aggregates to the site via rail using the existing rail sidings. The ability to transfer aggregates from road to rail will result in a direct sustainability benefit in HGV road miles savings and associated CO2 emission reductions.

In terms of annual production the asphalt plant is forecast to produce around 400,000 tonnes of asphalt, which will be supported by the road planings recycling facility which is expected to receive 200,000 tonnes of planings per annum for recycling.

The Proposed Development will provide full time employment to 20 employees throughout the duration of the development, if approved. Third party contractors shall also be employed to import the road planings, aggregates and additives and to export the recycled and manufactured products. It is estimated that this shall provide employment for around a further 50 indirect employees.

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 FM Conway Limited, PDE submitted a planning application to East Sussex County Council for a height extension to the existing asphalt plant stack at FM Conway’s asphalt plant at North Quay Road, Newhaven, East Sussex, BN9 0AB.

The application sought to increase the height of the asphalt plant stack by 20 metres. The increased stack height forms part of a wider package of measures which have been implemented on Site to target an improvement to local air quality and a reduction in dust and odour emissions from the Site.

A resolution to grant planning permission was made at East Sussex County Council’s Planning Committee on 14 August 2024.

The grant of planning permission is great news for FM Conway as well as local residents who will see a reduction in odour from the plant following the construction of the increased stack height.

PDE Consulting Limited submitted a planning application on behalf of Green Aggregates Limited for the erection and operation of an asphalt plant and road planings recycling facility, ancillary facilities and access on land off Burnley Road, West Thurrock, Essex.

Planning permission was granted by Thurrock Council on 05 July 2024.

The grant of planning permission is fantastic news for Green Aggregates Limited, as it will allow for the installation of an eco-friendly asphalt plant which has been designed to support the Applicant’s sustainability initiatives. The asphalt plant has been designed to be able to produce both traditional asphalt and warm asphalt. The ability to produce warm asphalt allows the Applicant to be able to use more recycled road planings within the plant which will replace approximately 75% of virgin aggregate usually required, which significantly reduces the Applicant’s demand on virgin aggregates.

In terms of annual production the asphalt plant will produce around 250,000 tonnes per annum of asphalt, which will be supported by the road planings recycling facility which is expected to receive 220,000 tonnes of planings per annum for recycling.

In addition to the eco friendly asphalt plant, the whole development has been designed to incorporate a number of sustainability initiatives to support the Applicant’s own carbon reduction plans whilst also preserving and enhancing the natural environment. The sustainability initiatives consist of the following:

• Active and passive vehicle electric charging points;
• A cycle shelter to encourage alternative transport options;
• The installation of green / brown roofs and grasscrete areas to provide biodiversity enhancement;
• The creation of a mosaic of open flower-rich habitats of high value within the development area footprint and within a dedicated Ecological Buffer Zone.
• The installation of roof mounted PV panels for the solar generation of electricity; and
• High efficiency external LED lighting.

The Proposed Development will provide direct employment for ten full time employees at the Site and will also employ third party contractors which shall provide employment for around a further 175 indirect employees.

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.