More than 500 hundred objections from local residents, five parish councils and other bodies, together with a petition signed by more than 1000 people, were all sidelined by Devon County Council recently, when a scheme to turn farmland in protected countryside at Whitestone, 4km west of Exeter, into an industrial-scale landfill site was narrowly approved:
Devon County Council’s development management committee... voted to approve the scheme by seven votes to five, with two abstentions, after an initial vote to refuse was lost via the casting vote of committee chairman Cllr Jerry Brook after a 7-7 deadlock.
Planning application DCC/4101/2018 sought "the importation of 350,000m3 of inert soils and topsoil for the land raising of previously disturbed land that is not capable of sustaining commercial agriculture" at Lower Hare Farm. The planning officer’s report can be found here.
Devon County Council's Landscape Officer judged that:
... the proposed operation would degrade rather than conserve and enhance the landscape character and visual quality of the Haldon Hills Area of Great Landscape Value for a period of between 10 to 15 years, and significant adverse effects would not be mitigated to acceptable levels, therefore contrary to Policies W2, W12 and W18 of the Devon Waste Plan, Policy EN2A of the Teignbridge Local Plan and NPPF paragraphs 130 and 170.
What's an Area of Great Landscape Value?
An Area of Great Landscape Value (AGLV) is an area of land in England which is considered to be of high landscape quality with strong distinctive characteristics which make them particularly sensitive to development. The designation was established under the Town and Country Planning Act 1947. Within ALGVs the primary objective is conservation and enhancement of their landscape quality and individual character.
However, Devon County Council's chief planner decided otherwise, and recommended approval:
Taken in isolation, the landscape and visual impacts of the proposed development are such as to warrant refusal of the application due to the significant harm to the landscape character and visual quality of the AGLV for the duration of the landraising operation…. It is necessary, however, to weigh the adverse landscape impact against the contribution that the proposed facility would make to maintaining sufficient capacity for the disposal of inert waste materials within the Exeter area.
Devon CPRE said the "utterly disappointing outcome shows the opinion of local people does not carry enough weight".
Whitestone landfill plans means ‘nature’s playground will become Exeter’s dumping ground’https://t.co/FsRQvanUPm
— Devon Live News (@DevonLiveNews) December 3, 2020
Devon CPRE 'dismayed' at approval of landfill site in Area of Great Landscape Value @cpredevon @thealanquick @DevonCC @DevComsTogether @Teignbridge #Crediton #Whitestone #landfill https://t.co/XtxuyqP19G
— Crediton Courier (@CreditonCourier) December 11, 2020
