Taking up concerns over planning in Breachwood Green with the Council

This week a number of residents have contacted me to express their concern about a planning issue in Pasture Lane in Breachwood Green. I have raised these concerns with North Hertfordshire Council on behalf of residents and have received the below response:

“The Council is aware of the current activities that are taking place at the site however the Council has not received any application for a waste transfer station, nor is the owner of the land looking to operate a waste transfer station from the site. There does appear to have been some confusion locally regarding the use of this site and the conditions relating to planning permission for industrial buildings on the site, and where they will keep waste and commercial bins prior to collection which is a typical condition for industrial buildings.

There are no protected trees on this site, and while the site is within the Green Belt, this does not mean that there are restrictions on removing trees that do not have tree preservation orders on them.

The application that has been determined 21/02118/FP and is currently subject to discharge of condition applications, and the retrospective planning application 22/00318/FP both relate to light industrial uses of the land which is the planning use that this land benefits from and has done for numerous years. No planning permission is required to use the land for light industrial purposes in its own right. These new buildings are in association with that established use of the land.

I am unsure why it appears that local information is that the site is to become a waste transfer station. It may be due to misinterpretations of the conditions on permission 21/02118/FP which requires the developer to provide details of waste management on the site relating to waste that might be generated from industrial processes, this includes storage and recycling and it's collection from the site. Such conditions are imposed on many planning permissions for industrial buildings to ensure that adequate provision is made for waste storage and collection, indeed the same conditions are imposed on developments for flats for instance to the same effect for the same reasons, hopefully these conditions are now more clear inn their purpose.

If there were proposals for the land to be used for waste transfer and processing, then this matter would be for the County Council to consider any change of use planning applications for, as they are the local planning authority for waste operations, and indeed the enforcement of unauthorised waste operations, North Herts Council would have to pass the matters on to them for consideration.

Fences can be constructed around development that is taking place for site safety and security for the duration of the works taking place. Permanent fences can be installed at this site without the need for planning permission where those fences are up to no more than 2m in height, when measured from the ground level adjacent to that fencing.

The blocking of the public footpath and damage to roads is a County Council matter as the land owner to address, the road and footpath are outside of the development area identified in the planning applications and the District Council does not have the powers to take action in relation to land owned and maintained by the County Council. The planning officer will make the County Council aware of the matters that have been raised by concerned residents regarding damage to and obstruction of their land.

The Council has advised the developer that they should cease works on the development subject to the retrospective planning application, and that any works they do take are at their own risk. The carrying out of development such as this is not a criminal offence, and no laws have been broken. The developer is aware that the works may be subject to enforcement action in the future if the retrospective application is refused. The Council will not be taking any enforcement action at this time until the planning merits of the development have been considered, and the planning application determined. The next steps regarding enforcement will then be decided on the outcome of that planning application.

The Council will be monitoring the development already granted planning permission 21/02118/FP to ensure that the development is carried out in accordance with the approved plans and conditions. Development that takes place will always result in excessive movements of lorries and vehicles while that development takes place, once development is completed these movements usually cease.”