2. Sustainable Resources and the Environment

Planning permission for recycling (construction and demolition waste), aggregates bagging, concrete batching plant and minerals processing at Marks Warren Farm will only be granted if no significant adverse impacts are caused to the environment or human health. This includes ensuring:

• Environmental disturbance for the periods of the operation are minimised by means of, for example, tree planting and land grading schemes, visual screens, acoustic baffles, siting of plant and buildings, limitation of working hours, direction of working and by relating excavation to progressive restoration to minimise the extent of the area open at any one time.
• Subject to part 19 of the General Development Plan Order 1995, ancillary buildings, structure, plant or equipment in the Green Belt are essential to the operation and preserve the open nature of the Green Belt, and that their materials are sympathetic to the landscape and their impact is minimised by appropriate siting and screening where necessary.
• There are no significant adverse effects on sites of protected or priority species or habitats in line with the Council’s Biodiversity Action Plan; sites of historical, geological or archaeological importance; or the Chadwell Heath Gun Site Conservation Area.
• There are no significant long term adverse effects on the landscape.  Particle emissions meet EC and UK standards.
• There are no adverse noise and dust impacts with regard to Annexes 1 and 2 of MPS2: ‘Controlling and Mitigating the Environmental Effects of Minerals Extraction in England-Noise’.
• There is no significant adverse effect on safety and amenity from vehicular traffic. When considering the traffic implications the Council will not only consider the effect on roads, but also along routes leading to the site.
• It does not create land instability.
• There is no significant adverse effect on ground or surface waters, flooding, and air quality.
• The processing will assist in the restoration of the minerals extraction site.

Following completion of extraction, processing and other associated operations, the site should be restored to the highest standards and secure a beneficial and acceptable use in line with Green Belt objectives.

As Barking and Dagenham is not required to meet the London Plan apportionment for land won aggregates, permission will not be granted for the opening of further sites.

The Council has reviewed all allotments in the Borough to confirm whether any should be reallocated for development. The allotments the Council has resolved to afford protection to are set out in the Site Specific Allocations DPD. These are allocated as local open space and protected under Core Strategy Policy CM3.