Keynsham firm 4Concrete has won an appeal to keep its extended weekday working hours, with the planning inspector ruling that nearby residents will not be “unacceptably” impacted.
The 4Concrete site
The company, which serves the Bath and Bristol area, had been ordered to do a 12-month trial to prove it could control noise levels at its site in Old Station Yard, off Avon Mill Lane, and stick to a site management plan.
When the firm applied to make the extended hours permanent, no objection was raised by Bath & North East Somerset Council’s environmental health team, but the council’s planners listened to the concerns of locals who said it would cause “significant harm” due to increased noise and disturbance.
People living near the 4Concrete site have been complaining since the company moved to the site six years ago. The batching plant was set up without planning permission and although it was subsequently granted retrospectively, objectors say there was no environmental assessment and no noise mitigation was initially provided.
The company then won planning permission on appeal for large acoustic barriers with a condition that extended hours – starting at 6.30am instead of 7.30am and finishing at 6.30pm instead of 5.30pm – could operate on a temporary basis to prove the promised noise reductions and that 4Concrete could work in accordance with the site management plan.
People living nearby reported that 4Concrete had broken planning restrictions and failed to comply with the site management plan on more than 70 occasions. But a senior council environmental health officer said that “in the absence of evidence to demonstrate a breach of the limits relevant to the extended hours” he was unable to object.
However, council planning officers said objections had been received from local residents regarding noise and disturbance experienced during the temporary permission period and that considerable weight must be given to the lived experience of those most impacted.
The firm appealed to the Secretary of State in a bid to get the council’s refusal overturned and the planning inspector has now ruled that the proposal would not result in an unacceptable impact on the living conditions of local residents.
The inspector says an amended site management plan has reduced the number of concrete mixing vehicles that can be filled and depart from the site between 6.30am and 7.30am, as well as a maximum number of vehicles in operation at any one time.
Only wet concrete mix can be prepared during the extended hours, which the inspector says is “demonstrably quieter than dry mixes” and it is noted that jackhammering to remove hardened concrete is now carried out behind the main building to reduce the noise impact.
The inspector’s report adds: “Interested parties have raised concerns regarding highway safety, including the creation of congestion, associated vehicles parking outside the site obstructing pedestrians and restricting visibility, and the spillage of aggregate and cement on the highway.
“These matters are not raised by the council, and I have seen little substantive evidence to show that there would be unacceptable harm in these respects arising directly from the proposed extended hours.”
On a site visit, the inspector did not see any significant dust issues and adds that “there is no evidence before me to demonstrate that the proposal would be detrimental in this respect during the extended hours”.
Claims of a history of complaints at the site are noted and the inspector says there is nothing to prevent the council from enforcing any breaches of planning control should it be considered “expedient to do so, and there is also legislation such as the Environmental Protection Act.”
The report concludes: “I have found that the proposal would not result in an unacceptable impact on the living conditions of local residents and is in accordance with relevant Development Plan Policies.
“I am satisfied that a grant of planning permission would not unacceptably interfere with local residents’ right to a private and family life and home.
“It is proportionate in the circumstances to allow the appeal.”
