live-#2725223-v1-agenda - ordinary meeting 22 september 2010 · agenda – ordinary meeting 22...

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Agenda – Ordinary Meeting 22 September 2010 - #2725223

ORDINARY MEETING

22 SEPTEMBER 2010

9 MATERIAL CHANGE OF USE (IMPACT ASSESSMENT) INDUSTRY CLASS C (METAL RECOVERY) & ERA 20 (METAL RECOVERY) – CAPTAIN COOK HIGHWAY BARRON – DIVISION 8 Luke Jackson : 8/8/1134 : #2511822 PROPOSAL: INDUSTRY CLASS C (METAL RECOVERY), &

ERA 20 (METAL RECOVERY) APPLICANT: NEWPORT RECYCLING GROUP 7/9 MUIR ST BUNGALOW QLD 4870 LOCATION OF SITE: CAPTAIN COOK HIGHWAY BARRON

PROPERTY: LOT 5 ON RP906407 PLANNING DISTRICT: BARRON SMITHFIELD PLANNING AREA: RURAL 1 PLANNING SCHEME: CAIRNSPLAN 2009 REFERRAL AGENCIES: DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT & MAIN

ROADS NUMBER OF SUBMITTERS: NONE STATUTORY ASSESSMENT DEADLINE: 28 SEPTEMBER 2010 APPLICATION DATE: 12 MARCH 2010 DIVISION: 8 APPENDIX: 1. APPROVED PLAN(S) & DOCUMENT(S) 2. CONCURRENCE AGENCY CONDITIONS & REQUIREMENTS

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LOCALITY PLAN

RECOMMENDATION: That Council refuse the development application for Industry Class C (Metal Recovery) over land described as Lot 5 RP906407, located at Captain Cook Highway, Barron, subject to the following: 1. The proposed development is contrary to Desired Environmental Outcome

2.2.4 Risk Management of CairnsPlan in as much as it proposes a development in a location and of a design that does not minimise the potential risk to the safety and health of the community as a result of flooding.

2. The proposed development is contrary to Desired Environmental Outcome

2.3.1 Primary Production in as much as the proposed development does: a. not protect primary industries, particularly sugar cane production,

which contributes to the economy of the City and to employment within the City;

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b. not minimise the effects of urban development on the resource of good

quality agricultural land and on the operation of primary industries; and c. not limit the encroachment of urban development on to good quality

agricultural land as provided for in Structure Plan Map 4. 3. The proposed development is contrary to Desired Development Outcome

2.3.2 – Economic Activity and Employment Centres as much as the proposed development fails to locate industrial activity within the designated major industrial areas identified in the Structure Plan Map 4.

4. The proposal is in conflict with the purpose of the Rural 1 Planning Area as it fails to:

a. Conserve, and not unnecessarily fragment, land for primary production; b. Establish of a wide range of agricultural and animal husbandry uses,

together with other compatible primary production uses; c. Protect rural activities from the intrusion of incompatible uses; d. Protect land which is susceptible to flooding and drainage problems

from urban or other uses; e. Establish a use identified as a consistent use in the assessment table

within Rural 1 Planning Area. 5. The proposal fails to adequately address the acceptable measures,

performance criteria and purpose of the Flood Management Code. The proposal could result in a significant risk to life and property.

6. The proposed development is contrary to the Far North Queensland

Regional Plan 2009-2031, as it does not protect the Regional Landscape and Rural Production Area from the encroachment of urban development.

7. The application fails to demonstrate an overriding need for the proposed

development. The use should be located in an Industrial Planning Area. Refer to Appendix 2: Concurrence Agency Requirements. (Please note that these conditions / requirements may be superseded by subsequent negotiations with the relevant referral agencies).

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Council is in receipt of a development application seeking a development permit for a Material Change of Use for Industry Class C (Metal Recovery) and Environmentally Relevant Activity (ERA 20 – Metal Recovery) in addition to the existing uses on-site for a Concrete Batching Plant, Extractive Industry (Sand Extraction), Industry C (Waste Disposal) and sugar cane cultivation. The proposal is to establish a metal screening facility to recycle metals coming into the existing waste disposal facility. The proposal is inconsistent with the Planning Scheme and is considered to be an inappropriate land use for the site. The proposal conflicts with the Desired Environmental Outcomes of CairnsPlan, conflicts with the purpose of the Rural 1 Planning Area, conflicts with the purpose, acceptable measures and performance criteria of the Flood Management Code, results in an undesirable expansion of an incompatible use within the Planning Area and should be located in a more appropriately zoned area. The applicant has failed to demonstrate that there is an overriding need for the proposed development or that the proposal will not result in adverse impacts with respect to flooding. The application is recommended for refusal. TOWN PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS: Site History The land is situated within the Barron River flood plain delta between the Captain Cook Highway, just west of the Holloways Beach roundabout, and the Esplanade to the Barron River. The land was previously used as a cane farm and part of the land continues to be used for this purpose. A Concrete Batching Plant operates on part of the land, close to the frontage with the Highway and this component of the land is nominated as Special Facilities respective to this use. The remainder of the land is within a Rural Planning Area and is partly used for Extractive Industry (Sand Extraction), cane cultivation and for waste disposal. Council agreed to a Court Consent order in 1990 for an Extractive Industry (permit 542103B). A condition of the Planning Consent limited the approval to fifteen years, that was on the 19 June 2005. Council at the Ordinary meeting held on 14 December 1998 agreed to an extension of the Extractive Industry, under a separate approval (Permit 13-3B) subject to numerous conditions. The life of this approval was limited to fifteen years and is due to expire on 2 April 2016. Since the approvals were issued part of the land has been operated as a sand extraction premises, initially by Boral Pty Ltd and currently by Northern Sands Pty Ltd. Licences have been acquired from the former Environment Protection Agency (now known as the Department of Environment and Resource Management or DERM) for the conduct of two Environmentally Relevant Activities (ERAs), these being:

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a. ERA 19(c) Dredging 100,000 t or more per year; and b. ERA 22(c) Screening 100,000 t or more per year. On 26 August 2004 the former Cairns City Council approved Development Permit 8/8/468 which included: a. A Material Changes of Use (impact assessment) for Industry C for the following

purposes: i. Hazardous and/or offensive industry (disposal of construction and demolition

material); ii. Hazardous and/or offensive industry (manufacture of soil conditioning

material); and iii. Bulk Landscaping and garden supplies (sale of manufactured soil

conditioning material); and b. Establishment of ERAS: i. ERA 75(a)(v) waste disposal (General or Limited Regulated Waste) 20,000t

or more per year but less than 50,000 t per year; and ii. ERA 53 soil conditioner manufacturer 200 t or more per year. The approved uses are currently in operation at the site. The ERA activities are operated under conditions issued by the former EPA (now DERM). On 11 December 2008 under Development Application 8/8/900, Council approved an expansion to the amount of construction and demolition waste material permitted to be disposed of under the previous Development Application 8/8/468. The amount approved increased to 75,000t or more but less than 100,000t per year. It is noted that the waste being disposed of essentially acts as landfill as it is being placed within areas previously used for sand extraction. Site and Surrounds The site is located on the western side of the Captain Cook Highway, Barron and is within a Rural 1 Planning Area of the Barron – Smithfield Planning District. The total site area is 63.37 hectares and the site is located within the Barron Flood Plain delta. The land is sited within a few metres of the Barron River. The topography of the land is partially flat but is also highly undulating in parts due to previous sand extraction. As previously mentioned, the site is used for a variety of purposes including a Concrete Batching Plant, Sand Extraction and Industry C - Waste Disposal (Construction and Demolition Material), Manufacture of Soil Conditioning Material and Bulk Landscaping and Garden Supplies. Existing facilities at the site include a site office building, a car parking area and employee amenity facilities. The site contains a variety of unsealed roads which traverse the site accessing the various uses in operation.

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Access is obtained directly from the State-controlled Captain Cook Highway. The access point was constructed to an industrial standard as required by the Department of Main Roads under the existing approval. A cane train line crosses the site to the north adjacent to the highway. As detailed above, the site currently contains existing uses being an extractive industry, a concrete batching plant and a waste disposal facility. The site is improved by a few buildings associated with the existing land uses. Access to the site is achieved from an existing access point to the Captain Cook Highway. Surrounding land in all directions is used for the cultivation of sugar cane. Proposal The submitted application is seeking a development permit for a Material Change of Use for the establishment of Industry Class C (Metal Recovery) and ERA 20 (Metal recovery) in addition to the existing uses on-site. The proposed use is currently in existence on-site and the submitted application is seeking to legitimise the land use. It is proposed to use approximately 1.5ha of the site for the business. The business operates on a flat section of previously cleared land. The use for Industry C (Metal Recovery) involves the sorting and recovery of recyclable metals from the existing waste transfer station and the sorting and recovery of recyclable metals collected in specific skips from construction sites around the city and greater Cairns area. Metal waste is brought to the site in heavy vehicles, is processed into scrap, is temporarily stored if necessary and then distributed to metal recycling specialist companies in Townsville. The volume of material from incoming metal waste is proposed to be at a rate greater than 50,000 tonnes per year and less than 100,000 tonnes per year. Approximately 400 tonnes is currently processed a month. The hours of operation are 6am to 6pm and the business employs 10 staff. A small car park is located at the northern end of the site adjacent to an amenities building/staff room. The submitted application does not intend to provide any enclosed structures to facilitate the land use and does not propose any landscaping. CairnsPlan Assessment

CairnsPlan Barron Smithfield Planning District

Code Applicability Compliance

Planning Area Rural 1 Does not comply – refer to discussion below.

Land Use Material Change of Use (Impact Assessment) Industry class C (Metal Recovery), ERA 20 (Metal Recovery

Complies

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Hillslopes r NA Character Precinct r NA Vegetation Conservation & Waterway Significance Complies Potential or Actual Acid Sulphate Soil Material Complies Bushfire Management r NA

Flood Management Does not comply – refer discussion below

Height and Impact of Buildings r Operational Aspects of the Cairns International Airport Complies

Local Heritage r NA

Overlays

Excavation and Filling Code Complies Infrastructure Works Code Complies Landscaping Code Can Comply Parking & Access Code Can comply Reconfiguring a Lot Code r NA Development Near Major Transport Corridors & Facilities Complies

General

Compliance Issues Desired Environmental Outcomes The proposed development is an impact assessable development and must comply with the desired environmental outcomes (DEOs) of the planning scheme. Several relevant to the proposal are listed below provided following with a comment as to whether the proposal satisfies the DEO. Ecological Processes and Natural Systems 2.2.4 Risk Management The location and design of development minimises risk to the safety and health of the community as a result of Flooding or Storm Surge. Comment: The proposed development is located within the Q100 inundation area of the Barron Delta Flood Plain. The proposed use is located with 300m of the Barron River. The communities of Stratford and Machans Beach are located down stream of the site, as is the Cairns International Airport. The applicant has provided limited detail with respect to flooding. The applicant states that: During 1 in 100 year floods the entire Northern Sands site may flood. If flooding is imminent, the metal stockpiles will be removed from the site and sent to the recyclers before flood occurs. Two-tonne concrete blocks will be put in place around vulnerable stockpile areas. The applicant has not provided a drainage report or flood study for the proposed development. The comments provided do not adequately address the potential flood impacts from the site and the proposed use could pose a significant risk to life and property down stream of the site in a significant flood event. The proposal fails to adequately address Risk Management as required by the DEO and is in conflict with the DEO.

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Economic Development 2.3.1 Primary Production Primary Industries, particularly sugar cane, continue to contribute to the economy of the City and to employment within the City. The effects of urban development on the resource of good quality agricultural land and on the operation of primary industries are minimised. The preferred pattern of development limits urban development of good quality agricultural land. Comment. It is proposed to operate the use over land which has been part of an extractive industry. The land had historically been used entirely for sugar cane production. However, such a use has not occurred over the area for the Metal Recovery for some time. Notwithstanding this, the site could be rehabilitated and converted back to agricultural uses consistent with the rural zoning. It is considered that the proposed use conflicts with the DEO which requires that primary production contributes to the economy of the city. The proposal conflicts with the DEO by imposing a heavy industrial use in a rural area. 2.3.2 Economic Activity and Employment Centres Business, retail and industrial activities are located in a hierarchy of centres and in designated areas throughout Cairns to encourage continued investment and an increase in the diversity and number of employment opportunities. Sub-regional, District and Local Centres are developed that contribute to a sense of community life and belonging for the people they serve. The Sub-Regional and District Centres and the major industrial and employment areas identified on the Structure Plan Map 4, are established and consolidated. Comment: The proposed use is identified as the highest level industrial use in terms of its category, this being Industrial C. The proposed development is not consistent with the DEO because it proposes a heavy industrial use in a rural area which is not targeted in the Structure Plan (see appendix) for industrial purposes. The Structure Plan identifies existing areas where major industry is to be located as well as areas for future major industry. The site is not located in any of the targeted industrial areas and therefore conflicts with the Structure Plan and the desired pattern of development in the Cairns Region. Rural 1 Planning Area The purpose of the Rural 1 Planning Area is to achieve several desired development outcomes (DDOs). Of relevance to the current proposal are the following DDOs:

1. Areas for use for primary production, particularly areas of Good Quality Agricultural Land, are conserved and are not unnecessarily fragmented:

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2. The establishment of a wide range of agricultural and animal husbandry

uses, together with other compatible primary production uses; 3. Rural activities are protected from the intrusion of incompatible uses; 4. Land which is susceptible to flooding and drainage problems, including

difficulties associated with high ground water tables is protected from urban or other uses;

5. Uses identified as inconsistent uses in the assessment table dealing with

material change of use for respective districts are not established in the Rural 1 Planning Area.

Addressing these issues respectively, the proposal does not result in the conservation of land for primary production, the proposal establishes a heavy industrial use as opposed to a primary production use and is incompatible with surrounding rural land, the site is susceptible to significant flooding problems and the use is identified as an impact assessable inconsistent use in the District Assessment Table. The applicant submits that despite the proposal being an inconsistent use in the Rural 1 Planning Area, it is entirely consistent with the use of the site as a waste dump backfill for a sand extraction backfill. The construction rubble is accepted as backfill and the metal content is recovered on site for recycling. The approved use on the site for disposal of construction and demolition material enables the large excavated areas within the sited to be filled. In the longer term, there is the potential for such areas to be rehabilitated. The use of the site for Metal Recovery would largely operate in its own right sourcing metal from construction sites and from other uses as opposed to relying solely on what is brought in and dumped by other companies for land fill. The proposal results in the expansion of a heavy industrial use which is not reliant on the existing extractive industry use, concrete batching plant, landfill use or the rehabilitation of the site for its operational success. It essentially operates as a stand alone development which is an undesirable expansion of a non-conforming use in an area that is already highly constrained by flooding. The applicant has failed to present reasons as to why there is an overriding need for the proposal within the area as opposed to an industrial area. The main reason used to justify the proposal is that it is compatible with the existing waste (landfill) facility at the site and some of the metal can be sourced from there. This is not a sufficient reason to justify an overriding need given the proposal could easily be located in an appropriate location elsewhere. Expanding incompatible development further in the flood plain is highly undesirable. It is considered that the proposal is inconsistent with the DDOs of the Rural 1 Planning Area and should not be supported.

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Flood Management Code The purpose of the Flood Management Code is to ensure that all new development has flood immunity from the defined flood event, that development will not cause significant adverse impacts on adjoining or external properties, that development does not adversely impact on ecological functions and that new development does not create an adverse impact on existing properties in the Barron Delta. The applicant submits the following with respect to flooding: During 1 in 100 year floods the entire Northern Sands site may flood. If flooding is imminent the metal stockpiles will be removed from the site and sent to the recyclers before the flood occurs. Two-tonne concrete blocks will be put in place around vulnerable stockpile areas. No metal recovery activity will occur on site prior to and during flood periods due to inaccessibility. The proposed development will have no negative impact on other premises. It will positively impact on the levels of metal recovery from the construction waste on the Northern Sands site. Comment: The applicant has not submitted a Flood Impact Study that quantifies the potential impacts of flooding to the proposal or surrounding properties. The applicant has also not submitted an appropriate Risk Management Plan detailing how the proposal is designed to mitigate the risk in a flooding event. The proposal to remove stockpiles before a flood occurs is an unacceptable proposition given the unpredictability of weather. The proposal fails to adequately address the significant flooding impacts associated with the site and the potential impacts which could arise have not been mitigated. Environmentally Revelant Activity ERA 20 – Metal Recovery Council’s Environmental Protection Unit (EPU) has assessed the ERA component of the application (given the scale of the development, EPU assesses the proposal in the place of DERM) and have provided conditions of approval which are attached as an appendix. It is noted that despite this, the EPU raised concerns about the ability of the operation to satisfy some of their conditions. Given that the proposed facility is located on a flood plain of the Barron River there remains concerns in the regard to the ability of the applicant to meet condition 37. This condition requires the applicant to ensure no contaminants are released to the land or waterways or are placed in a location where it could reasonably be expected to move into a waterway (Section 44ZG EPA Act 1994). The proposed stormwater management strategy (which involves reducing stockpiles during the wet season and eliminating stockpiled material when flooding is imminent) is not deemed sufficient to prevent contaminants being released from site. An approval to operate a Metal Recovery ERA must ensure that contaminants are secured on site all of the time.

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Far North Queensland Regional Plan 2009-2031 (“Regional Plan”) Pursuant to the Regional Plan, the land is part of the “Regional landscape and rural production area”. The Regional landscape and rural production area includes lands that have regional landscape, rural production or other non-urban values, and protects these areas from encroachment by inappropriate development, particularly urban or rural residential development. The associated FNQ Regulatory Provisions restrict urban development. However, the same provisions seek to support diversification of rural economies by allowing a range of developments including small to medium scale tourist activities, small scale industry, business and community activities and sport and recreation facilities. The proposed use is defined as an Urban Activity under the Regional Plan. The proposal is not triggered for referral to the Department of Infrastructure and Planning as the proposal has a very small Gross Floor Area for staff amenities. The trigger for referral to DIP is a use having a GFA of more than 250 sqm. The proposed development does not protect the Regional Landscape and Rural Production Area from the encroachment of urban development and is therefore inconsistent with the Regional Plan. Public Notification / Submissions The application was publicly notified by the applicant between 3 August 2010 and 25 August 2010. During this period no submissions were received. Conclusion The proposal conflicts with the DEOs of the Planning Scheme as it fails to provide an adequate level of flood immunity, fails to address likely flooding impacts of the proposal, results in a non-rural land use in an area targeted for primary production, and results in an industrial land use which is not located in an area designed for major/future major industrial land uses. The proposal results in an undesirable expansion of a non-conforming industrial use within a rural area. The proposed development is therefore recommended for refusal. Luke Jackson Planning Officer Action Officer Simon Clarke Manager Development Assessment

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APPENDIX 1 REFUSED PLAN(S) & DOCUMENT(S)

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APPENDIX 2 CONCURRENCE AGENCY CONDITIONS & REQUIREMENTS

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APPENDIX 3: STRUCTURE PLAN

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APPENDIX 4 SUPPORTING INFORMATION TO PLANNING REPORT

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