Councillors will next week finally decide whether plans to double stack container units at a secure storage depot in Wortley should be approved after a decision over the plans had been delayed since April.
Applicant Kasa DS Ltd (Twenty4 Secure Storage) has applied to remove storage container units from western boundary and include double-stacked container units in southern portion of the site off Amberley Road.
Councillors on the south and west plans panel will next Thursday get to decide the plans.
Members deferred deciding the application back in April to allow for a site visit to take place so they could make a full assessment of the proposal. However, due to Covid-19 restrictions imposed by the council in carrying out site visits on minibuses, it had not been possible for members to visit the site accompanied by officers.
Councillor Ann Blackburn (Green, Farnley & Wortley) had requested that the application be determined by the panel due to concerns that the double stacking of some of the storage containers would create greater levels of noise and disturbance for local residents and the proposed landscaping is not significant enough to counteract any noise problems.
Cllr Blackburn said the use of the land for storage purposes close to housing has previously caused issues with some residents on Stradbroke Way, due to past noise complaints.
The proposal is for changes to the internal layout of the position of the storage
containers that were first approved in a 2017 planning application and the increase from 249 containers to 373 containers. Double stacking would take place at 31 points within the southern section of the site
Planning officers are recommending approval, subject to conditions. A planning officer’s report to be considered by councillors concludes the development meets planning policy guidelines:
“The proposal is considered to comply with both national and local planning policy. The application site would operate within a context that attracts no undue levels of noise and disturbance as informed by EH, and there are no highway safety issues.
“The additional containers and limited percentage of containers that would be double stacked within the proposed layout are not considered to impact significantly more than the site than was approved in 2017 in respect of visual amenity and the living conditions of the adjacent neighbours. The implementation of the landscaping is a key component as it was in the 2017 scheme and the recommended conditions includes a caveat for evidence of the implementation.”
The planning officer’s report and the agenda for next Thursday’s meeting can be read in. full here. WLD first reported on the proposals in April.