Well, it was an arduous, long drawn-out campaign - 10 years to be precise** but this morning we got our just rewards when we managed to persuade members of Durham County Council’s planning committee to reject a proposal which would have extended works on the Hesleden Pit Heap site for another 10 years.
Together we stood behind a long-running campaign united in opposition to an unjust planning application that would have brought another decade of dust, dirt and upheaval to the village of Hesleden.
The concerns we raised with committee members ranged from problems with dust emissions, noise created by dozens of wagons thundering through Hesleden and Castle Eden and all points in between, road traffic safety caused by those same wagons and a general loss of amenity to our local settlements - all issues in direct contravention to planning policy contained in the Local Plan and other policy documents.
Ultimately committee members were persuaded by the quality of the arguments put forward by speakers on behalf of our community campaign. If committee members were to refuse consent for the application however we had to give them a valid reason - a material planning consideration. In the end we gave them several - but the one that covered all bases was Planning Policy 31 which states that 'development will be permitted only where it can be demonstrated that there will be no unacceptable impact on health, living or working conditions'. In addition it holds that 'development will not be permitted where inappropriate odours, noise and vibration cannot be mitigated against.'
We'd already shown the committee that development of the site since 2017 had had an adverse and unacceptable impact on the community, so that was the policy members chose to refuse the planning application.
In doing so, committee members suggested that any exposed combustible material on site should be left in the ground, and in order to prevent any future incidents of spontaneous combustion it was further suggested that any remaining exposed minerals should be covered with clay from the site, which would have the effect of eliminating the risk of random fires on the site. It was felt that this could be achieved cheaply and quickly, in direct contradiction to the developer’s claims that works would have to continue for another 10 years to prepare the site for reclamation.
It's not possible at this stage to know what will happen next. The applicant has the option to appeal against the committee's decision, but it should be noted that if that happens the council's planning officers are compelled to argue any appeal case on the basis of the committee's rejection of the case officer's report. In other words, the council must defend the committee's agreed position, which in effect means it stands on the side of the community.
I've contacted the council's planning office to ask them to confirm the status of the current site works. Given the objections of the planning committee members I would have thought that works in their current form would come to an end, but the planning report suggests that site restoration works should begin immediately and last for no longer than 12 months. We need to know exactly what this entails and we need clarification from the planning department on what happens next.
I'll update on developments as soon as I have more information, but in the meantime members of the community should give themselves a collective pat on the back for the campaign we've run for over 10 years. By standing together, united behind a common cause, we've achieved a significant victory against all the odds. It's vital now that we stick together and maintain that unity for whatever comes next.
A broadcast of the committee proceedings can be found in the following link. But be warned, the agenda item on the Hesleden planning application alone took almost 2 hours to decide! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHAcHXVfnMw
**A timeline of our campaign, from December 2013 onwards, can be found in this link: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2022/03/hesleden-pit-heap-timeline-of.html
