APPENDIX 2

HAZARDOUS INSTALLATIONS and NUCLEAR SAFEGUARDING

(i) The following are considered to be hazardous installations. Proposals within the appropriate consultation distances will be notified to the Health & Safety Executive.

(ii) The policy which will apply to such proposals is AP91.

		Consultation Distance (metres)
1.	NOTIFIABLE SITES
(a)	Liquid Propane Gas Installation: RAF Woodbridge	175
(b)	Calor Gas Liquid Propane Gas Installation, Dock Road, Felixstowe
	- refrigeration Tank - seaward end of jetty	700 500
(c)	Felixstowe Tank Developments Ltd., Highly Flammable Liquid Installation, The Dock, Felixstowe	300
2.	BRITISH GAS HIGH PRESSURE TRANSMISSION PIPELINES
(a)	Great Bealings	148
(b)	Great Bealings to Yelverton	148
(c)	Redenhall to Martlesham	42
(d)	Martlesham to Trimley	42
(e)	Great Bealings to Trimley	42
(f)	Great Bealings to Rushmere Common	42
(g)	Whitwell to Monks Green	116
(h)	Great Bealings to Langham	148

 

NUCLEAR SAFEGUARDING

Introduction

(iii) As a result of the construction of the Sizewell 'A' nuclear power station, restrictions were imposed on the amount of new development that could take place in Leiston.

(iv) Sizewell was chosen as the site for a nuclear power station because the area was sparsely populated. This was in line with the Government's policy, as set out in 1955, which stated that the first nuclear power stations, even though they would be of inherently safe design, would not be constructed in heavily built-up areas. Once the decision had been taken to construct the station, it was necessary to ensure that the area did not become heavily built-up.

(v) The then Minister of Housing and Local Government pointed out that although the elimination of the risk of accident was one of the overriding factors in the design, construction and operation of the power station, plans must be made to deal with an emergency, however remote the possibility might be. In the unlikely event of a release of radioactivity, the plans would cover evacuation of people living in the immediate vicinity of the power station and it was, therefore, necessary to ensure that the population did not rise to a level which could jeopardise the possibility of evacuation. The nuclear safeguarding restrictions are thus based on the need to maintain the sparsely populated characteristics of the area and to permit smooth evacuation in the unlikely event of an emergency at the nuclear power station.

(vi) The practical effects of the nuclear safeguarding restrictions are:

• a requirement for the District Council to consult the NII on certain categories of development proposals within a 5-mile radius of the power station;

• the imposition of a ceiling figure on the number of dwellings which can be built within a defined area, which includes Leiston; and

• the need for continuous monitoring of the housing land availability position within the safeguarding ceiling area.

Consultation Procedure

(vii) The 5-mile radius consultation area is divided into a 'pink area', a 'blue area' and a 'white area' (see Map), each of which has it own clearly laid-down consultation thresholds. Proposed developments, in respect of which consultation is required within each of these three areas, are as follows:

(a) Pink Area - a development leading to an increase in residential accommodation, or likely to cause an influx of non-residential population;

(b) Blue Area - development providing residential accommodation, permanent or temporary, for more than 50 people or likely to cause an influx of non-residential population exceeding 50 people;

(c) White Area - development likely to lead to an increase of 500 people in the population at any place.

The Safeguarding Ceiling

(viii) The area to which the safeguarding ceiling relates is that part of the 'pink area' lying within the parameters of a 30^o arc centred on the power station (see Map). This effectively covers most of the built-up area of Leiston and includes the whole of the area within the physical limits boundary. The available units within the ceiling figure are intended to provide for the local needs of Leiston, rather than to encourage any inward migration, including those seeking employment either at Sizewell 'B' or elsewhere in the town.

Monitoring

(ix) Over the years the Local Planning Authority (formerly East Suffolk County Council, now Suffolk Coastal District Council) has kept a close check on the number of residential approvals given within Leiston, so as not to run the risk of exceeding the total permitted number of dwellings. From time to time, when an adjustment to the ceiling figure was considered necessary, application was made to the NII.

(x) With the adoption of the Suffolk Coastal Local Plan the NII agreed in principle that residential development will be acceptable on any sites within the defined physical limits boundary. Any planning applications for residential development within the physical limits boundary will still be considered on their merits by the District Council, however, and will only be approved if they satisfy the normal planning criteria. These additional units are likely to arise through infilling, conversions, changes of use and redevelopments, rather than the development of greenfield sites. Nevertheless, the NII reserve the right to object to developments if growth proves to be higher than expected.

(xi) The NII also agreed to the residential allocations at St Margaret's Crescent and at Leiston Hall Farm. Any further residential allocations in Leiston would require the prior approval of the NII.

Sizewell 'B'

(xii) The implications for the Sizewell 'B' nuclear power station on the nuclear safeguarding restrictions were considered at the Sizewell 'B' Public Inquiry. Statements on this issue were made by the NII in response to questions raised by the Leiston Town Council. In essence, the Inspectorate have indicated that the development of Sizewell 'B' does not alter the need for the present nuclear safeguarding restrictions to continue for the period to which this Local Plan relates.

(xiii) The effect of a Sizewell 'C' power station on the nuclear safeguarding restrictions is an issue that will need to be considered if it arises.