A Health Impact Assessment for Buckfastleigh

Great news that Buckfastleigh has been granted a Health Impact Assessment survey as part of the planning process for Whitecleave Quarry. Something that we have long campaigned for.

Now we need community views as to what counts. Please click on the poll to the right (top 5 only please as we need an idea of relative importance). Add comments below or email directly. Please see the information provided by Devon's Public Health Directorate.

Message from Head of Health Improvement (South Locality), Public Health Directorate, NHS Devon:

Whitecleaves Quarry HIA Scoping

Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is an evidence-based process that aims to predict the positive and negative impacts of a strategy, proposal or development on the health of a population.

The criteria for assessment in the Whitecleaves Quarry HIA are to be agreed by a steering group (scoping), it is proposed that evidence will be gathered for a baseline assessment which will be tested by the steering group in the form of a draft HIA which will be reviewed and result in a final report. Consideration can be given to the wider determinants of health and well-being in neighbourhoods.

The scope has yet to be agreed but can include health and well-being in the widest sense as demonstrated by the health map below.

                                               

A Health Map. © Barton and Grant 2010 (based on a public health concept by Whitehead and Dahlgren.1991)

The steering group will have membership from public health (NHS), Devon County Council, Environmental Health, Health Protection Agency and the Environment Agency it is important to have resident involvement and whilst the views in planning correspondence can be incorporated the residents view at each stage are important particularly at the scoping stage. The applicant will be tasked to complete the HIA but it should provide an independent view overseen by the steering group.

Autumnal view of Whitecleave Quarry

This didn't appear in the "Landscape and Visual" assessment by MVV submitted as part of the planning application, but it is a more honest reflection of the industrial nature of the site visible to town and tourists.

Planning and Objection Letters

Wikipedia is actually a better source of details of planning than any government website I've come across!

Wikipedia on Planning

Unless a member of the public raises one or more material planning considerations which were not apparent beforehand, it is unusual for public views to override the relevant planning policies when the decision is made. The importance of public opinion is in adding flavour to the issues from the point of view of the decision maker. They can be especially important in deciding how much "weight" to give to different material considerations. Unpopular proposals often attract well orchestrated public opposition and it is not unusual for an LPA to receive multiple copies of the same pre-written letter of objection from a large number of people, or petitions with numerous signatures... Some objectors to a development will also write to their Member of Parliament or to other people who are mistakenly believed to have influence over the outcome of a planning application but MPs will scrupulously avoid seeking to influence the proper functioning of a democratically elected LPA. Although members are democratically elected, they should not decide applications on the basis of strength of public opinion, but according to planning law; if there are no substantial planning grounds for refusing an application, a planning inspector at appeal could well order the LPA to pay costs.

IBA is non-hazardous waste

Just reading the Environmental Statement:

1.3.17 The IBA material from the EfW facility is classified under the European Waste Catalogue codes as a non-hazardous waste. Once this material has undergone the maturation process the material would be defined as inert product as defined in the Landfill (England and Wales) Regulations 2002, Regulation 7(4).

But through this miraculous transformation we are supposed to believe the leachate is still totally harmless when it is discharged into Dean Burn! The expression "would be defined" is also very telling - WHO would be defining this?


Compare the Landfill Regulations with the definition of inert waste from the Devon Waste Local Plan 2006 Paragraph 2.2.10: "The term ‘Inert waste’ now refers only to those wastes which are truly inert, such as concrete, glass, brick, clay and subsoil. Waste previously described as “inert”, such as topsoil, construction and demolition waste, will in future only be classified as inert if it can be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Agency that it is indeed inert”?

Health Impact Assessment Requested

Details here: Request to DCC for a Health Impact Assessment

"Emergency Sump"

Interesting from planning docs. The lagoon that attempts to enclose the toxic leachate not only has a discharge pipe to Dean Burn, but also an "emergency sump" in the quarry.

Drainage Layout

Devon County Council's Response to Meeting

After our meeting with members of the planning executive at Devon County Council, they have formally responded to Mel Stride's request for a formal clarification of what is happening at Whitecleave Quarry and how it relates to their existing ROMP permission.

Please see our original request for info and DCC's 4-page response:

Mel Stride correspondence with Devon County Council


We would be interested to hear what opinions people have about this issue.