Update on Application
The County Council met with the Applicant to give them a chance to revise and refine their application in the light of comments and questions raised by the various consultees. This is known formally as a 'Supplementary Information Request under Regulation 25'. The areas where more information is required are numerous and indicate that the information provided is not adequate or robust enough for the application.
What happens now?
The Applicant has until November 30th to respond to the Information Request and there will then be a further period of formal consultation. It may be the case that we will have only 30 days to comment on the changes and confirm our objections.
In the meantime, we’re continuing to liaise with our MPs Lillian Greenwood and James Naish on to bring them up to date and get their views.
As soon as we have a clearer picture on when the consultation period will start, we’ll update everyone and let you know what is needed next. We may well be required to reiterate our previous objections, and if so, we’ll be needing to show the same strength of objection as before.
Thank you so much for all your interest and help so far, we’ll update you as soon as there’s any more information, and if you have any questions, please get in touch via our Facebook page.
Please note: button takes you to a disclaimer first
Why are we opposed to the quarry?
Ever since it was first proposed in 2014, the local communities have opposed the development of a quarry which would cover all the land between Barton in Fabis alongside the Trent as far as Clifton Woods.
This site would have an estimated life of 12 years and an output of 200,000 tonnes every year and would not be restored and established for up to 25 years.
We managed to delay an initial planning application in 2017 and a revised planning application in 2021 was withdrawn in 2022 after another successful campaign.
How the area looks now:
What it could look like if the quarry goes ahead, this is the applicant’s other quarry:
The effect on people and communities
26,000 people live within 1.5km of the site.
This site will create a lot of dust! It will have a worrying impact on air quality in a populated area.
No consideration has been given to the residents of Lark Hill Retirement Village, which the site will overlook - 40% of residents have breathing difficulties. The residents have had the threat of this quarry hang over them for 10 years of their retirement now!
Gravel extraction will involve huge, heavy and noisy machinery operating on the site 6 days a week and 11 hours a day. Dewatering pumps will at times run day and night.
The site will require a giant processing site at Mill Hill with 29,000 lorry movements each year and will significantly add to already problematic traffic levels.
Attenborough nature reserve is 70m from the edge of the site, which attracts more than 600,000 visitors annually.
The footpath between Clifton and Barton is heavily used by walkers, cyclists, runners and horse riders and no alternative is possible.
We have the support of all our local County, Borough and City Councillors and our MPs Lilian Greenwood and Ruth Edwards. But we really need your support too!
The effect on the environment
This proposal would devastate 79 hectares (200 acres) of prime wildlife habitat and feeding grounds for birds using Attenborough Nature Reserve.
The whole valley area between the river and Clifton Woods would be destroyed for at least 12 years and even then, would never be the same.
The peace and quiet of this countryside that many enjoy would be permanently damaged – remember how many people valued that during lockdown and continue to do so!
There are many red list (critically endangered) and even more amber list species potentially impacted by the development of the site.
The quarry will have a huge impact on Two Sites of Special Scientific Interest - SSSIs (Attenborough Nature Reserve and Holme Pit) and 7 Local Wildlife Sites are directly or indirectly impacted by the proposed development.
The surrounding woodlands are officially designated as ‘Ancient Woodlands’ and would be impacted by habitat loss, noise, light and dust.
There is extensive ancient ‘ridge and furrow’ land adjacent to the proposed site that will be affected.
The development would result in substantial harm during the operational phase to the setting of the Grade 1 listed Clifton Hall.
It doesn’t make sense!
Nottingham County Council’s own analysis showed that this site is the least sustainable of all the potential sites considered in the county both during the operational phase and in the long term.
There is no significant advantage to this site over other potential sites in the South of the County and neighbouring counties in terms of the market for aggregates.
Nottinghamshire already has enough supplies of sand and gravel to last 15 years (over twice the government target of 7 years) and demand is falling.
AND
It will not stop there, if planning permission is granted then in future years the County Council is likely to approve extensions which would further affect surrounding areas such as Barton in Fabis, Thrumpton and towards Nottingham city.