Agenda item

To receive questions from members of the public under rule no.10 of the Council Procedure Rules.

There were 3 questions; addressed by the Chair of the Committee.

Question from Mrs G Baker
‘C86, Howe Road Whitwick is located close to historic landfill and will require further geo-environment investigation.  It is also within a mining consultation area.  I understand that this site is owned by the Council and that it was successfully nominated as a site of community value in August 2020. It only has capacity to build 17 properties, so how can development of this site benefit the council and residents?’

Response from the Chair of the Local Plan Committee
‘Development of this site by the Council provides an opportunity to help address some of the Council’s housing priorities which might not otherwise be addressed by the housing market.

A land contamination assessment would be required as part of any planning application process.’

In response to a supplementary question, the Planning Policy and Land Charges Team Manager explained that the response to the question was set out because the plot of land was owned by the Council and one of the options was to develop 100% Council housing or affordable housing, subject to policies. This was envisaged as being most likely. The access to this site hasn’t been looked into in great detail, as of yet. It was also clarified that the Gladman developer’s interest was in land parcels to the west of Whitwick and excluded C86.

Question from Mr M Elton

‘The West Whitwick area was historically an area of sheep farming, but I am not totally clear which particular part of the site was used for sheep dipping. Sheep dip sites lead to arsenic and organophosphate contamination, which is extremely hazardous to the health of builders and potential residents if the site is developed. I have researched Part 2A of the Environment Protection Act 1990 and understand that the Council should hold records about potential areas of contamination.  What steps will the council take to ensure that homes are not built on contaminated soil in the area?’

Response from the Chair of the Local Plan Committee
‘The Council’s Environmental Protection Officer has advised that as the site is currently agricultural land and sheep dipping is an agricultural use, it wouldn't be considered under Part 2A of the EPA 1990 so it would only be assessed if a change of use that would introduce new receptors was proposed. Furthermore, they have confirmed that farm sites would require land contamination risk assessments as part of any planning application process.’

In response to the supplementary question, the Planning Policy and Land Charges Team Manager explained that there would be a need for a contamination risk assessment as part of a planning application and so if there were any issues this is where they would be picked up together with any remediation necessary.

Question from Mr C Taylor
‘I’ve noted that some sites listed as SSSIs in the North West Leicestershire District Council’s site assessments may be out of date, as they do not appear in Natural England’s current records. Given the abundance of wildlife and wildflowers in the West Whitwick Valley, when was this area last assessed for SSSI status by Natural England?’

Response from the Chair of the Local Plan Committee
‘The site assessment work has used information on the Natural England Magic website. Natural England are responsible for identifying SSSIs. They have advised that “land West of Whitwick, as outlined in the map provided by you, is not a Proposed SSSI nor part of one. We can also confirm that Natural England is not considering a proposal to notify this land as a SSSI”. They go on to state that they “will select and notify an area as a new Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) when it believes the

land’s wildlife, geology or landform is of special interest. When land becomes a SSSI, it does not give the public the right to access the land. A substantial amount of evidence is required to show that an area has special interest of a standard to be considered a SSSI.

The rationale for the evaluation and selection of SSSIs is available on the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) website:
Guidelines for the Selection of Biological SSSIs (https://jncc.gov.uk/our-work/guidelines-for-selection-of-sssis/)

Guidelines for selection of Earth Science SSSIs (https://hub.jncc.gov.uk/assets/dfe0020b-efef-4f93-9fe4-1e10bab91cdf)’

In response to a supplementary question, it was agreed that the Planning Policy and Land Charges Team Manager would provide further information to the questioner about whether there were any SSSIs in the proposed plots included in the Local Plan.