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COMHAIRLE NAN EILEAN SIAR ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES COMMITTEE |
Minute of Meeting held in the Council Offices, Stornoway, on Tuesday 31 August 2004 at 2.00pm.
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PRESENT |
Mr Angus Nicolson (Chairman) |
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Mr Ian M Macleod (Vice-Chairman) |
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Mr Alex A Macdonald |
Mr Donald Maclean |
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Mr Norman L Macdonald |
Mr Martin C Taylor |
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Mr Keith Dodson |
Mr Peter Carlin |
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Mr Angus Campbell |
Mr Ronald J Mackinnon |
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Mrs Morag Munro |
Mr Angus Macdonald |
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APOLOGIES |
Mr Angus McCormack |
Mr George Lonie |
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DEVELOPMENT CONTROL
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Wastewater Drainage: Development Plan Policy DS65
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The Director for Sustainable Communities submitted a Report intimating that future development in settlements with an “at capacity” public sewerage system was potentially constrained. The Report indicated that some seventeen island settlement areas currently had an “at capacity’ public sewerage system and that a further ten were close to capacity. It was stated in the Report that the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) objected to new private sewerage systems in areas with public sewerage systems, even where the latter was “at capacity,” as SEPA considered public sewerage systems could be better managed, regulated and improved to thereby deliver environmental and wider benefits.
The Report referred to structure plan policy DM6 which stated that:
“new developments in areas with public sewerage systems will be expected to connect to the public sewer unless such connection would result in an unsustainable use of resources. In such cases the development will only be permitted if a suitable, sustainable alternative method can be provided. Proposed private sewerage arrangements must be implemented without adverse impact on groundwater or watercourses and provide sufficient treatment of effluent”.
It was highlighted in the Report that in applying policy DM6 it was considered that connection to a public system ‘at capacity’ represented an unsustainable use of resources and therefore allowed for consideration of an alternative suitable sustainable method of drainage. It was further intimated in the Report that planning applications should be determined in accordance with the Development Plan unless material considerations indicated otherwise and that the Comhairle's Development Plan policies, particularly the recently approved Structure Plan, provided clear guidance for making decisions and allowed for the consideration of private sewerage arrangements in public sewered areas. It was pointed out in the Report that, whilst noting the priority given to the Development Plan in decision making, each planning application would have to be considered on the facts and circumstances relating to that application and it was stressed that every application site would be different and that some may not be suitable for private systems.
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The Report further referred to the fact that current Scottish Water data was based on historical survey information and that it was understood that Scottish Water was currently reviewing its information base relating to waste water systems and that with a national consultation exercise underway on its future investment programme Scottish Water was unable to give any programme on system capacity upgrades. The Report concluded that discussions should be held with relevant Outside Bodies to investigate respective concerns and identify arrangements that allowed for responsible and sustainable future development outcomes, namely the delivery of both socio-economic and environmental objectives and that any such discussions with outside bodies should include:
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(1) identification of measures and mechanisms for private/public waste water systems that achieved sustainable development objectives;
(2) early stakeholder input to the Western Isles Local Plan Policy preparation; and
(3) influencing Scottish Water to improve investment upgrade of public sewerage systems in fragile rural areas. |
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It was agreed to recommend that the Comhairle:
(1) note that current Development Plan policy for settlements allowed for consideration of development if a suitable sustainable alternative method of drainage could be provided within ‘at capacity’ systems;
(2) authorise the Director for Sustainable Communities to discuss with Scottish Water, SEPA and others, arrangements that enable positive sustainable development outcomes; and
(3) request urgent conclusion of the ongoing review of the Scottish Water information base regarding public wastewater systems.
It was further agreed to recommend that the Director for Sustainable Communities be authorised to take all steps which he may deem appropriate to inform Community Councils of the position with regard to public wastewater systems.
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Processing Responses to Scottish Executive Consultations on Large Wind Farm Applications DS61.19
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The Director for Sustainable Communities submitted a Report concerning procedural matters associated with the anticipated application by Lewis Windpower Limited and subsequent applications under the Electricity Act. The Report intimated that it was expected that an application would be lodged shortly with the Scottish Executive for a 600+ megawatt wind farm with turbines sited in and around the Barvas Moor within Galson, Barvas and Stornoway Trust Estates and stated that the Comhairle would be given four months from submission of the application to offer its views to the Scottish Executive. The Report outlined a series of actions in order to enable a detailed and proper assessment of the proposal, including:
(1) inviting the Scottish Executive Energy Unit to convene a public meeting, as early as possible, in Stornoway and perhaps in North and West Lewis as well to make clear what the procedure would be and what would be expected of those who wished to make comment, on the basis that such meetings would not provide a forum to debate the pros and cons of the proposals;
(2) the placing of sufficient paper copies of the proposed layout plans, photo- montages and the non-technical summary of the Environmental Assessment in the Ness, Tarbert, Balivanich and Castlebay Area Offices and the Stornoway Library and if acceptable to proprietors in Borve, Barvas, Bragar, Shawbost and Carloway Post Offices and the placement of a paper set of the full application in the Council Offices, Stornoway, with the distribution of discs containing the electronic version of the full application being sent to Community Councils in the affected areas;
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(3) the setting aside of at least two days, approximately two to three months after submission of the application, to debate the relevant issues and, on terms to be agreed by the Comhairle, hear those who have relevant expertise in specific areas such as hydrology, aviation and archaeology; and
(4) the submission of a Report, by the Director for Sustainable Communities following the above, which would be an information gathering exercise, to be considered by the Environmental Services Committee and/or the Comhairle on the basis of which a view would be reached and submitted to the Scottish Executive.
It was further suggested in the Report that the abovementioned processes could be followed when consultations were received on the Pairc and Eishken wind farms.
It was agreed to recommend that:
(1) the following process be adopted in relation to the forthcoming application for a wind farm by Lewis Windpower Limited;
(a) the Scottish Executive Energy Unit be invited, as early as possible, to convene a public meeting in Stornoway (and, perhaps in North and West Lewis as well) to make clear what the procedure will be in relation to consultations on large windfarm applications and what is expected of those who wish to make comments, on the basis that such meetings, would not provide a forum to debate the pros and cons of the proposals;
(b) sufficient paper copies of the proposed layout plans, photomontages and a non-technical summary of the Environmental Assessment be requested to be placed in the Ness, Tarbert, Balivanich and Castlebay Area Offices, the Stornoway Library and, if acceptable to proprietors, in Borve, Barvas, Bragar, Shawbost and Carloway Post Offices; a paper set of the full application to be placed in the Council Offices, Stornoway and that disks containing the electronic version of the full application be sent to Community Councils by the Director for Sustainable Communities in the affected areas;
(c) approximately two to three months after submission at least two days be set aside for a meeting of the Environmental Services Committee to consider the relevant issues, on terms to be agreed by the Comhairle concerning the hearing of the applicant and Community Councils, in the area related to any application and to hear those who have relevant experience in specific areas such as hydrology, aviation and archaeology; and
(d) following the above, which would be an information gathering exercise, the Director for Sustainable Communities would prepare a Report that would be considered by Environmental Services Committee, prior to a recommendation being made to the Comhairle.
(2) a similar process to that outlined at (1) above be followed for other Scottish Executive consultations on subsequent applications under the Electricity Act.
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It was further agreed to recommend:
(1) that the Director for Sustainable Communities and the Director of Corporate Services should submit a further Joint Report for consideration by the Committee in relation to the process to be adopted for allowing the applicant and Community Councils to make their views known to the Environmental Services Committee at the meeting referred to at (c) above; and
(2) that the Audit and Scrutiny Committee be requested to examine the procedures to be used in relation to processing responses to Scottish Executive consultations on large wind farm applications.
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Planning Applications and New Road Construction DS21
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With reference to item 7 of the Minute of Meeting of 17 June 2004 the Director of Technical Services submitted a Report concerning the development of policies to maintain a consistent approach with a view to ensuring the provision of appropriate access to new developments. The Report intimated that concerns had been raised in relation to those locations where a number of houses had already been built and where the onus to upgrade a road would then fall on one individual. It was pointed out that whilst the proposed policy aimed at achieving flexibility and that the fact that a particular road could only ever serve a limited number of dwellings could be recognised, there was a need to ensure that narrow roads, without passing places, lighting etc., were not being provided to access an ever increasing number of houses. The Report referred to the statutory obligations placed on the Comhairle by the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 and further referred to the policy position of a number of other local authorities in Scotland in relation to the provision of roads at developments. The Report further indicated that a clear policy statement in relation to the provision of access, including footways at developments would ensure that prospective developers were fully aware of any planning permissions required by the Comhairle, prior to entering into any agreement on plot acquisition.
It was recommended in the Report that the Comhairle should:
(1) establish a policy requiring developers taking access from an existing road for a new dwelling to provide appropriate access including footways to the property. (such a condition(s) would be included as a condition on developments); and
(2) consider whether a policy should be established requiring that when three or more houses were served by an access then a requirement for a road to adoptable standards would normally be added as a planning condition.
It was agreed to recommend that the Comhairle, only in those cases where one developer was developing three or more houses, should establish a policy that a planning condition would normally be added to the effect that an access road to adoptable standard and suitable footway would be provided by the developer.
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ENVIRONMENT
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Allocation of 2004/2005 ACE Challenge Funding CH01.01 |
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The Director for Sustainable Communities submitted a Report concerning the allocation of ACE Challenge Funding to the Sheshader Amenities Association and the Balivanich Community Leisure Area Group. It was stated in the Report that the Sheshader Amenities Association proposed to undertake works at the Sheshader Slipway, including the construction of paths and picnic seating areas and that the Balivanich Community Leisure Area Group proposed to undertake the first phase of creating a purpose built leisure park in the vicinity of Winfield Way, Balivanich. Details of the project costs together with information on the level of funding attracted from other Outside Bodies towards both of the aforementioned projects were given in the Report. |
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It was agreed to recommend that the Comhairle approve 2004/05 ACE Challenge awards of :
(1) £15,000 to Sheshader Amenities Association; and
(2) £10,000 to Balivanich Community Leisure Area Group.
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Investing in Water Services 2006 – 2014 DS65
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The Director for Sustainable Communities submitted a Report indicating that the Scottish Executive had requested the Comhairle's views on the “Investing in Water Services 2006 – 2014” consultation paper.
A proposed response from the Comhairle was appended to the Report.
It was emphasised that public infrastructure provision was important to sustaining communities in the Western Isles and enabling future development demands to be met and that future investment in water services must address local priority needs to:
(1) increase capacity of existing public wastewater area systems;
(2) extend the network of first time public wastewater provision;
(3) resolve potential low water pressure constraints on large scale developments; and
(4) replace older water mains pipes.
It was emphasised in the Report that specific public funding was required to carry out the abovementioned works.
It was agreed to recommend that the Comhairle:
(1) submit the comments set out in paragraphs 6.1 to 6.10 and Appendix 2 of the Report as the basis of its response to the Scottish Executive; and
(2) urgently instruct Officers of the Comhairle to discuss investment issues with relevant bodies to ensure that the Scottish Water Investment programme met the special needs and priorities of the Western Isles.
It was further agreed to recommend that:
(1) Officers of the Comhairle be instructed to include the most up to date figures in any submission made to the Scottish Executive ; and
(2) the Director for Sustainable Communities be authorised to make representations to the Scottish Executive, on the basis that the savings which had accrued, as the result of the amalgamation of the North of Scotland Water Authority, the West of Scotland Water Authority and the East of Scotland Water Authority, be used by Scottish Water to provide, as a matter of urgency, water and sewerage infrastructure in rural areas.
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Local Air Quality Management CH03.06.10
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The Director for Sustainable Communities submitted a Report giving information on the implications of statutory reporting procedures for meeting national air quality objectives.
The Report referred to the duty imposed on the Comhairle in terms of Part IV of the Environment Act 1995 to carry out reviews and assessments of local air quality and that the Local Air Quality Management: Progress Report 2004 indicated that measured air quality in the Western Isles currently met national standards. |
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The Report stated that the next update and screening assessment in connection with local air quality was due in 2006 and that it was becoming increasingly difficult to complete this detailed technical assessment using existing resources.
It was agreed to recommend that the Comhairle note:
(1) the completion of the Local Air Quality Management: Annual Progress and Updating and Screening Assessment for 2004, and
(2) that an additional Report was likely to be submitted to the Committee during 2005 highlighting additional resource implications associated with undertaking the Updating and Screening Assessment Report due in the first four months of 2006.
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Radiation Monitoring During 2003/2004 CH03.13
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The Director for Sustainable Communities submitted a Report giving detailed information in relation to the radiation-monitoring programme for 2003/04. It was stated in the Report that the results, detailed at Appendix 1 of the Report, showed fluctuations in levels from previous years, however the overall levels were so small that these were more likely to be due to variations in sampling and analysis procedures than changes in radiation levels in the environment. It was intimated in the Report that the levels of radiation detected in the Western Isles were well below the Generalised Derived Limits and in many cases below the limits of detection and that the radiation monitoring programme provided a good base line of information from which any changing trends could be detected.
It was agreed to recommend that the results of the radiation-monitoring programme for 2003/2004 be noted.
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CH03.14
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The Director for Sustainable Communities submitted a Report giving information in relation to progress associated with the Comhairle's contaminated land strategy. It was stated in the Report that a MapInfo Contaminated Land Site Prioritisation System had been set up and that all Council owned housing stock had been risk assessed and prioritised, with up to fifteen sites falling within the medium to high category.
The Report stated that up to 50 walkover inspections of prioritised sites around the Stornoway area would be undertaken and that the possibility existed that some sites may require detailed investigation. It was further intimated that consultants would undertake up to four planned intrusive site investigations at a projected estimated cost of £55,000 during the period September 2004 – June 2005.
It was agreed to recommend that the Comhairle note the progress made in the implementation of the Comhairle's Contaminated Land Strategy.
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CONSUMER PROTECTION
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Mr Tom Joyce, Senior Trading Standards Office gave a presentation to the Committee on the Enterprise Act 2002.
An opportunity was afforded to Members to ask questions of Mr Joyce.
It was agreed to note the presentation made in connection with the Enterprise Act 2002.
Arising out of consideration of this item it was agreed to recommend that the Director for Sustainable Communities be requested to prepare a Report on the methodology to be used in gathering evidence for the Office of Fair Trading on price discrimination (special offers), including liaison with other Island Authorities.
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WASTE MANAGEMENT AND RECYCLING
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It was agreed that the public, including the press, be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item on the grounds that exempt information as defined in Paragraph 9 of Schedule 7A of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 would be disclosed, namely, information relating to the amount of any expenditure proposed to be incurred by the Comhairle under any particular contract for the acquisition of property or the supply of goods or services.
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The Director for Sustainable Communities submitted a Report seeking approval for the programme of refurbishment work on community skips. It was stated in the Report that the proposed refurbishment works would extend the life of existing skips.
It was agreed to recommend that the programme of refurbishment work on community skips be included in the Capital Programme in line with the Project Evaluation Report in Appendix 1 to the Report.
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The Director for Sustainable Communities submitted a Report intimating that the Scottish Ministers had awarded the Comhairle £25.215m from the Scottish Executive Strategic Waste Fund which would enable the Comhairle to deliver the Comhairle’s Waste Strategy Implementation Plan. The Report gave details of the range of sub- projects contained within the Waste Strategy Implementation Plan including:
(1) the expansion of the ’Bring Site Network’ ;
(2) a kerbside sort recycling collection service in ‘Stornoway Burgh’;
(3) a combined bio-waste/residuals collection, bio-waste processing and materials recycling facility; and
(4) waste prevention, community education and awareness initiatives.
The Report gave details of the implementation of the main construction phase.
It was agreed to recommend that the Comhairle:
(1) note the funding award to the Comhairle from The Strategic Waste Fund granted to deliver the Comhairle's Waste Strategy Implementation Plan;
(2) agree to delegate to the Director for Sustainable Communities, in consultation with the Director of Corporate Services and the Members of the Waste Strategy Implementation Sub-Committee, the authority to take all decisions necessary, outwith the current delegation as detailed in the Scheme of Delegation to Officers, to deliver the Waste Strategy Implementation Plan, within the required timescale, on the basis that all Personnel matters associated with the implementation of the Strategy would be submitted to the Human Resources Sub-Committee;
(3) agree to delegate to the Director of Corporate Services, in consultation with the Director for Sustainable Communities and the Members of the Waste Strategy Implementation Sub-Committee, all matters relating to land acquisition and the acceptance of tenders associated with the Waste Strategy Implementation Plan, on such terms and conditions as the Director of Corporate Services, in consultation with the Director for Sustainable Communities shall deem appropriate; and |
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(4) agree that the delegation detailed at (2) and (3) above will only be used when it is determined by the Chief Executive that a decision, concerning the Strategic Waste Find, was required to be taken so rapidly that it was not possible to convene a meeting of the Waste Strategy Implementation Sub-Committee.
It was further agreed to recommend that the Waste Strategy Implementation Sub-Committee should remain in existence until June 2007.
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It was agreed that the public, including the press, be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following two items on the grounds that exempt information as defined in Paragraph 9 of Schedule 7A of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 would be disclosed, namely, any terms proposed or to be proposed by or to the Comhairle in the course of negotiations for a contract for the acquisition or disposal or property or the supply of goods or services.
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The Director for Sustainable Communities submitted a Report seeking approval for the selection of tenderers for the construction of new waste process facilities. The Report further referred to the mechanisms required to allow the finalisation of the tender documentation associated with the construction detailed in the Report.
It was agreed to recommend that the Comhairle:
(1) approve the list of tenderers to be invited to tender for the construction of new waste management facilities required as part of the Waste Strategy Implementation Plan in the Report prepared by SLR Consulting Ltd detailed in Appendix 1 to the Report; and
(2) agree to delegate the final approval of the tender documentation for the construction of new waste management facilities required as part of the Waste Strategy Implementation Plan to the Director for Sustainable Communities, in consultation with the Director of Corporate Services.
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The Director for Sustainable Communities submitted a Report concerning the construction of the New South Plant Waste Management Facility.
It was agreed to recommend that the Comhairle:
(1) agree to the selection of the Market Stance Quarry site as its primary choice for the siting of its future Southern Wastes Management facility;
(2) authorise the Dir |