Merry Christmas

Another year has passed, and even though Aggregate Industries won planning permission to quarry Straitgate Farm almost two years ago – after a decade-long effort – the company has still not recovered a single bucket-load of that oh-so-precious sand and gravel from the site.

Having achieved little over the last 2 years, the company has left itself much to do in the next 12 months if it is to implement the permission before it expires on 5 January 2026. 

For instance, it must: 

• have a raft of schemes to satisfy pre-commencement planning conditions approved by Devon County Council;
• evict the dairy farm tenants – whose family has farmed at Straitgate for nearly 100 years – to overcome the expired cattle crossing permission and to achieve the enhanced biodiversity net gain figures required; 
• design a workable site access scheme to fit in the narrow space between the two TPO’d oak trees and the third party hedgebank; 
• design a surface water management plan – based on a series of yet-to-be-performed and results-far-from-certain infiltrometer drainage tests – that will not risk creating any prohibited-by-planning-conditions bodies of water, noting how problematical surface water management is currently proving for the company at Hillhead; 
• drill 4 new boreholes, install piezometers, and complete 12 months of baseline monitoring from them; 
• correct some of its water monitoring programme, and complete 12 months of accurate baseline monitoring; 
• and more... 

And yet – as the company made clear earlier in the year – Aggregate Industries currently has no appetite to work the site, given the economic outlook and the costly HVO-fuelled multi-million-mile haulage plan. 

During the year, however, Aggregate Industries did find the motivation to apply to quarry another 460,000 tonnes of sand and gravel – the same sort of sand and gravel that underlies Straitgate – at its Houndaller site next to its processing plant at Hillhead Quarry near Uffculme, that, according to the company, will see it through to the end of 2029: 

The current estimate completion date for extraction [at Houndaller] is end of 2029 with completion of restoration and landscaping by 2031, this is based on an average production rate of 350,000 tonnes per annum.

Although, judging by the figures, Aggregate Industries has in fact been producing sand and gravel at Hillhead over the last few years at the reduced rate of just 250,000 tonnes per annum. At that rate, Houndaller’s reserves would last another 8 years or so. 

So, no wonder Aggregate Industries doesn’t really seem that bothered with Straitgate.   

But such mineral talk is very un-Christmassy, so, to finish off the year on a lighter note, here’s a popular Christmas carol – with a Straitgate twist and themed scene to match – courtesy of the other sort of AI: 

– Verse 1 –


Dashing through the woods,


Where the oak trees proudly stand,


Dormice make their homes,


In this precious, thriving land.


But here comes a plan,


To tear it all away,


We’ll raise our voices loud and clear,


To keep destruction at bay! 

– Chorus –


Stop the quarry, save the trees,


Let the dormice play,


Drinking water’s under threat,


Don’t wash it all away! 


Stop the quarry, save our springs,


Nature’s worth the fight,


Protect this land for future dreams,


And keep our future bright! 

– Verse 2 –


The oak trees stand so tall,


With roots both deep and true,


They’ve weathered years of storms,


Don’t let them fall for you.


The dormice need their space,


The water must stay clean,


No digging here, no dusty trucks,


Let Devon stay serene! 

– Chorus –


Stop the quarry, save the trees,


Let the dormice play,


Drinking water’s under threat,


Don’t wash it all away!


Stop the quarry, save our springs,


Nature’s worth the fight,


Protect this land for future dreams,


And keep our future bright! 

– Verse 3 –

Devon’s land is rare,


A treasure we must guard,


With ancient oaks and wildlife here,


Destruction hits so hard.


The drinking water’s pure,


A gift we must defend,


No quarrying should take its toll,


This harm must have an end! 

– Chorus –


Stop the quarry, save the trees,


Let the dormice play,


Drinking water’s under threat,


Don’t wash it all away!


Stop the quarry, save our springs,


Nature’s worth the fight,


Protect our home for all to share,


And keep our future bright! 

We wish all readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Aggregate Industries’ Straitgate update for November

Shortly after Aggregate Industries received planning permission to quarry Straitgate Farm, the company agreed to provide monthly progress updates. 

It has not been an onerous task – as previous updates demonstrate. 

A gentle reminder was sent to Aggregate Industries earlier this month. The response? 

Any update provided by the company will be posted here, as and when received.

EDIT 17.12.24

There are no updates this month.

AI’s Hillhead surface water management plan – more dodgy assumptions?

Flooding can have a devastating impact on communities. Not only can it cause damage to property and possessions, it can cause injury and death. The Met Office says we should expect an increasing frequency of extreme rain: 

…research, published in Nature Communications, found that under a high emissions scenario (RCP 8.5) rainfall events in the UK exceeding 20mm/hr could be four times as frequent by 2080 compared to the 1980s.

Managing flood risk is therefore an important business. Council’s trust consultants to get the figures right. 

Last month, Aggregate Industries submitted further information to Devon County Council in relation to its planning application DCC/4399/2024 for Hillhead Quarry near Uffculme, which is in part to deal with the quarry’s ponding problems.

 

In its revised surface water management plan for the site – where "all surface water will be managed in the former extraction area, with Houndaller Pond only acting as an exceedance route" – Aggregate Industries’ water consultants BCL Hydro – the same crew working on Straitgate – made a big assumption: 

The fact that [Houndaller Plantation] pond can sustain long-term and regular abstraction… means that it would be similarly effective as a soakaway.

We questioned this claim in the post AI sense-checks AI... and its soakaway assumptions at Hillhead, and wrote to Devon County Council saying: 

There remains, therefore, no cogent evidence – measurements or otherwise – of the soakaway capacity at Houndaller Plantation Pond. It is wrong to assume that Houndaller Pond would be “similarly effective as a soakaway”, and therefore it does not necessarily ‘follow’ that Houndaller Pond could cope with exceedance flows from a storm event.

But there appeared to be other wild assumptions put forward by Aggregate Industries’ water consultants too. As we set out to Devon County Council:

... it appears that the applicant’s revised plans have not allowed sufficient storage space within the extraction area for the design storm event: 

The applicant claims “the ASV [Attenuation Storage Volume] requirement equates to 3,350 m3 during the design event (1 in 100-yr + 45% allowance for storm intensity due to climate change)” and that “the revised surface water management plan for Houndaller (by incorporating 3,416.60 m3 within the former extraction area) will provide sufficient storage space for the design event.” 

The applicant claims runoff rates and attenuation requirements were computed using “the assumption that 12.75 hectares [127,500m2] of the catchment area would possess runoff characteristics analogous to that of an impermeable paved surface.” The applicant has not provided any output from those computations to substantiate the conclusions. 

An ASV of 3,350m3 divided by the impermeable catchment area of 127,500m2, implies the applicant has modelled for a rainfall event of 0.0263m or 26.3mm. 

This would seem to be an inadequate figure, given the historic records for nearby areas: 

“June 1946 In Cullompton, 2.35 in [60 mm] of rain fell in 45 minutes and ... in the lower part of the town flooding was 3 ft deep in houses.”

“22 October 1960 Flooding occurred in Crediton, following a total of 64 mm of rain on 20 and 21 October (recorded in Exeter)” 

“21 November 2012 Between 20mm to 39mm (0.8in to 1.5in) fell in 12 hours overnight on already saturated ground.” 

https://www.middevon.gov.uk/media/345917/appendix-j-historic-records-of-flooding.pdf 

The University of Exeter Weather Observation Records has the Highest Daily Rainfall at 47.20 mm on 4 September 2024.

https://empslocal.ex.ac.uk/uoeweather/records/ 

The UK’s wettest day, in records back to 1891, was 3 October 2020. The average rainfall across the entire UK was calculated at 31.7mm. The Met Office says record-breaking rainfall like that seen on 3 October 2020 could be 10 times more likely by 2100.

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/news-and-media/media-centre/weather-and-climate-news/2021/record- breaking-rainfall-more-likely-due-to-climate-change 

Using the FEH22 rainfall depth-duration-frequency model for that area, 26.3mm is less than a 1-hour, 30-year event; by contrast, a 12-hour, 100-year event would exceed 90mm.

https://www.ceh.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2023-05/FEH22_rainfall_depth-duration_frequency_%28DDF%29_model.pdf 

A 90mm rainfall event, with the same impermeable catchment area of 127,500m2, would require a much larger storage capacity of 11,475m3...

When it came to Straitgate Farm, consultants Amec Foster Wheeler, writing Aggregate Industries’ Flood Risk Assessment, modelled for a lesser 1 in 100-yr storm event + 10% climate change, and reckoned that across the 25.61ha (256,100m2) site, a total volume of 19,054m3 was required to attenuate runoff. Dividing the latter by the former implies a 74.4mm rain event was modelled for, or 67.6mm excluding the 10% climate change uplift. Assuming Hillhead, 23 miles away, is prone to the same level of storms as Straitgate, then adding back a +45% climate change allowance, means that the surface water management plan for Hillhead needs to accommodate runoff from a 98mm storm event – or in old money, nearly 4 inches of rain. 

So why BCL Hydro has only modelled for a not-uncommon 1-inch rain event is anybody’s guess. 

Given that there are now a series of questionable conclusions from BCL Hydro – here, here and here – local people would be forgiven for having little faith in whatever surface water management plan eventually emerges for Straitgate Farm.

AI seeks to delay Chard Junction Quarry restoration in Dorset AONB – again

Aggregate Industries’ planning application to extend its Chard Junction Quarry – a development that would have caused considerable harm to the Dorset AONB for the sake of a relatively small amount of decorative stone – was refused in September 2021 by Dorset Council, and, after the company appealed the decision, again in October 2022 by the Planning Inspectorate. 

The extant permission WD/D/20/000313 was "limited to the period ending 31 March 2023":

Reason: To safeguard the natural environment and amenity of the local area and to ensure the timely restoration of the site in accordance with Policies SSI (Presumption in favour of sustainable development), RS1 (Restoration, Aftercare and Afteruse of Minerals Development) and DM4 (Protection and Enhancement of Landscape Character and the Countryside) of the Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole Minerals Strategy. 

But that wasn’t enough for Aggregate Industries. 

In February 2023, the company submitted a planning application P/VOC/2023/00946 "seeking a time extension until the 31 December 2024 in order to complete the restoration of Chard Junction Quarry", blaming in part its failure to stick to the existing planning condition on "adverse weather conditions". 

The Officer’s Report explained:  

5.4 … given that permission WD/D/20/000313 lapsed on 31 March 2023, and that application WD/D/19/000451 was refused, for the operator to fulfil its obligation in restoring these areas, they are now proposing to vary the requirements of condition 3 (Duration of the development permitted) of Planning Permission WD/D/20/000313, to extend the end date to 31 December 2024, in order to have further time in which to restore the site. 

The Dorset AONB Team commented: 

Whilst our clear preference would be for the timely completion of restoration in line with the planning consent, we do not feel it appropriate to object to the requested extension of time. We recommend that the Council carefully examine the reasons for a time extension and reach an opinion as to the reasonableness of this in relation to the circumstances. 

Dorset Council duly granted permission for the extension in May 2023. 

But we all know by now that Aggregate Industries rarely does what it says it will. 

Last month, the company submitted yet another planning application P/VOC/2024/06538, requesting yet another extension of time, this time blaming National Grid: 

We are therefore seeking to vary Condition 1 of the Permission to extend the end date for completing restoration of the site to the 31 December 2025. 

Please be assured that the company remain committed to the completion of the restoration of this site and the delay that has caused this application has been due to matters entirely outside of our control.

AI’s water monitoring at Straitgate being undertaken incorrectly at several properties

To win permission to quarry Straitgate Farm, Aggregate Industries entered into a legal agreement to monitor the private water supplies of surrounding properties for the lifetime of the development. 

Part of this agreement also stipulates that 12 months of chemical analysis of water supplies be performed before any quarrying starts, to produce a baseline so that any potential changes in groundwater quality from future mineral workings can be detected. 

Aggregate Industries’ water consultants BCL Hydro are now nine months into this monitoring period. 

In an email to us last month, the consultants confirmed that all the samples taken for analysis are "untreated groundwater". 

It stands to reason. Chemical analysis is meant to provide an accurate baseline of the natural quality of the groundwater, not a baseline that is masked or altered by treatment systems. 

It now transpires, however, that "untreated groundwater" is not what’s being sampled from at least three of the 19 or so properties being monitored. 

It looks like Aggregate Industries and its consultants have fallen at the first hurdle, before any quarrying has even started. 

The nine months of data collected from these properties is invalid. The owners do not have the protection afforded to them by an accurate 12-month baseline of untreated groundwater data, independent of their treatment process, to evidence any potential future claim for "derogation, contamination or interference" to their supply. 

Devon County Council has been informed.

Another quarry accused of disrupting water supplies

In 2016, we posted Look what happens when a quarry company is accused of polluting a couple's drinking water supply: 

...everything changed and it was clear the spring had been contaminated because the water was coming out brown and dirty...[which] coincided with the operators of the quarry near our home being served with statutory notices for quarrying outside their permitted area

Now, it looks as though it’s happened again elsewhere, allegedly caused this time by Dareduff Hill Quarry in East Ayrshire to a home in East Renfrewshire. 

According to GlasgowLive: 

Ali says part of the planning agreement carried conditions that her private water supply would be protected - but already, she says, it has been affected. 

She said: "It's basically an ancient spring out of the ground, where you won't get any planning that says where it comes from, because nobody knows - but it's been here for as long as this building has been up, for hundreds of years. 

"The water goes naturally into a tank that's in the ground. This farm used to be a dairy farm, so it supplied this whole place with water. And it's never been a drama. I only ran out of water once years ago when we had a big drought. It all works fine, it's dead old-fashioned but I've never wanted to or had to change it. 

"So while this proposal was going on, I had contacted MPs. I contacted Planning and everyone has ignored me, nobody's done anything. On the back of that, both East Renfrewshire Council and East Ayrshire Council are going to get 7p a ton from the aggregate that's taken out of this quarry, so there's money involved for the councils too." 

She added: "They've now started the digging. I wasn't informed about it at all. 

"Part of the concessions that were approved in the planning stage was that the water at this farm [West Carswell Farm] had to be sorted, and that West Carswell was either to be connected to the mains or some other solution. But nothing's happened."

Ali said plumbing experts believe disturbance to the ground from the launch of the quarry works may have put “muck” in the water with the silt clogging old pipes. She added: "There's water in the tank... but there's no water getting to my property."

As we said back in 2016: 

At Straitgate, water supplies for 100 people, 3 farms and Grade I Cadhay would be in the hands of one digger driver. What could possibly go wrong? And - with an extensive catalogue of ignored warnings from local residents going back years - how many nationals would cover the story if it did?

 

Renfrewshire woman devastated as quarry works begin near dream countryside home.https://t.co/zWOHLHnXz1

— Glasgow Live (@Glasgow_Live) December 3, 2024

AI joint venture blames economic slowdown for quarry restoration delay

Wight Building Materials is a joint venture between Eurovia and Aggregate Industries. 

Last week, onthewight reported: 

Restoration work at an Isle of Wight quarry with tens of thousands of tonnes of fill material will continue for two more years following a council decision. 

In justifying its decision for Wight Building Materials’ Hale Manor Quarry, an officer wrote: 

The submitted information states that the downturn in the economy caused by rising interest rates and the cost of living over 2022/23 has caused the slowing rate of restoration for the quarry. Therefore, the restoration scheme cannot be completed by the 2024 deadline. 

Of course, it wouldn’t be the first time that a deadline linked to Aggregate Industries has come and gone. 

In the past, the word deadline meant something: 

a line drawn within or around a prison that a prisoner passes at the risk of being shot 

a line that does not move 

To Aggregate Industries et al., a deadline seems to mean nothing more than a guideline. 

But we mustn’t be too harsh. Aggregate Industries and other mineral companies are clearly feeling the economic pain – as was made perfectly clear to us earlier in the year, when a representative from Aggregate Industries explained why the company intends to mothball Straitgate Farm immediately following implementation of the planning permission.

EA issues Closure Notice to Walleys Quarry Ltd

In 2023, we posted about Walleys Quarry Landfill site in Silverdale near Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, and the long-running battle by local people to Stop the Stink. 

Yesterday, the Environment Agency finally showed its teeth:

    

The Environment Agency has today, 28 November 2024, issued a Closure Notice to Walleys Quarry Ltd (WQL).

For full details of what this means visit: https://t.co/zNrm5r8P0I

— Env Agency Midlands (@EnvAgencyMids) November 28, 2024

Walleys Quarry landfill that is ran by @RedIndustries2 have today been issued with a closure notice!!! It's done!!!Thank you to to @AJogee for you and all your teams hard work. We've spent years breathing this poison, it's time we got a breath of fresh air #StopTheStink pic.twitter.com/r62RSwbPuO

— Stop The Stink (@StinkStopthe) November 28, 2024

Today is a good day for the people of Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Finally - after everything - a closure notice has today been issued to Walleys Quarry Ltd. #LoveNuL 🇬🇧🌹 pic.twitter.com/StH1f71hT3

— Adam Jogee MP (@AJogee) November 28, 2024

Rick Brassington, Field Hydrogeology, 5th Edition

Rick Brassington – a recognised authority on hydrogeology, winner of the Whitaker Medal, and author of various textbooks on the subject – has been a long-term opponent of Aggregate Industries’ plans for Straitgate Farm, warning that any quarrying would permanently damage the many surrounding water supplies. 

His arguments were no doubt instrumental in persuading Devon County Councillors to turn down Aggregate Industries’ planning application for the site on 1 December 2021. 

However, at the Public Inquiry in October 2022, in relation to one of the main areas of contention – groundwater, and the mechanism for water movement through the unsaturated zone, put forward by Rick and supported by the Council’s expert hydrogeologist, Paul Thomson, as well as much scientific literature – the Planning Inspectors thought they knew best:  

23. ...we are not persuaded that piston flow is the dominant flow mechanism in the BSPB or at the site... 27. ...we prefer the appellant’s model of rapid infiltration...  

Rick Brassington has now produced the Fifth Edition of Field Hydrogeology – his successful "Pocket-sized field workbook for students studying hydrogeology at undergraduate and postgraduate levels", published by Wiley. 

The Fifth Edition addresses some new topics, including – and directly relevant to the arguments at Straitgate – "Complicated flow rates through the unsaturated zone". 

In the Preface to this Edition, Rick writes: 

There were a number of small changes [in this edition] but the biggest new addition covers flow through the vadose [unsaturated] zone. This came about when I failed to explain this to intelligent people who had no knowledge of geology who decided that they would rather accept a simple picture of rapid recharge flow with the unrealistically high value for the hydraulic conductivity in the vadose zone rather than the complex system that nature has provided for us. You will have to read it to see what I mean; it is now at the end of Chapter 3.

We recommend Rick’s book to any budding hydrogeologists, and Planning Inspectors wanting to find out about the real world.

AI sense-checks AI... and its soakaway assumptions at Hillhead

In August this year, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government posted a blog titled Exploring the use of artificial intelligence to streamline the planning process:

Planning documents often contain vast amounts of valuable information, but accessing and using this data can be challenging. Artificial intelligence (AI) offers a potentially promising solution by efficiently processing and interrogating large volumes of data to extract key information and insights.  

Draft minutes of the October 2024 meeting of the South West Aggregates Working Party – a group referred to in this post – also talked about the use of artificial intelligence in the planning process, particularly in the analysis of consultation responses: 

EIW, LM and TB had recently attended a POS [Planning Officers Society] meeting. Various matters had been discussed including safeguarding, the Finch case (and adopting a cautious approach) and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the planning process, particularly in the analysis of consultation responses.

But artificial intelligence can work both ways, not only saving planning officers time in the analysis of hundreds or thousands of consultation responses, but also allowing Joe Public to sense-check consultants’ reports. 

Aggregate Industries has this month submitted further information to Devon County Council in relation to its planning application for Hillhead Quarry near Uffculme – DCC/4399/2024:

Variation of conditions 2, 4, 6, 7, 12, 19, 22 and 25 of ROMP permission DCC/3655/2014... to vary the phasing; landform; drainage; and restoration of the site. 

We had posted about this application earlier this year – here and here – which in part is to deal with the ponding problem at the quarry, and in part to deal with unsafe quarry faces – which would, fortuitously for the company, yield a further 460,000 tonnes of sand and gravel in the process. 

In June, we wrote to Devon County Council saying: 

We are concerned that the ES Chapter 9 Hydrological & Hydrogeological Impact Assessment Version 2 May 2024 for the above application is incorrect, more specifically that the calculated soakaway rate at Houndaller Plantation Pond of 5,000 m3/d is impossibly large. 

The soakaway rate being pushed by Aggregate Industries and its consultants – five thousand cubic metres per day, equivalent to 1.8 million cubic metres per year – was used to conclude that: 

5.8.8.7 ...Houndaller Plantation Pond has sufficient soakaway capacity for the design storm.

We pointed to a flaw in the author’s calculations, suggesting that the above assumption was incorrect. Devon County Council’s Flood Risk team objected to the application, and also asked for "Calculations for the current outflows from Houndaller Pond (abstraction / groundwater) to be submitted." 

Aggregate Industries has now fundamentally redesigned its surface water management plans: 

Following discussions at the site meeting held on 4th July 2024, an updated surface water management scheme has been prepared where, following mineral extraction operations, all surface water will be managed in the former extraction area, with Houndaller Pond only acting as an exceedance route.

Consultants have also had a stab at "Calculations for the Current Outflows from Houndaller Pond": 

AIUK abstracts water from the groundwater-fed Houndaller Pond in accordance with Abstraction Licence No. SW/045/0002/055. 

The quarry operator has confirmed that they make full use of this licence. The rate of abstraction is set at 14 l/s, equating to 50 m3/hr. The annual rate of abstraction comes to 180,000 m3/year. 

This abstraction activity is a sustained process, occurring day after day, and the average groundwater level contours (Figure 5 in BCL’s report) are only c.1 m below the maximum levels (Figure 6), showing that abstraction (drawdown) impacts on water level in the pond are relatively limited. 

The fact that the pond can sustain long-term and regular abstraction at 14 l/s means that it would be similarly effective as a soakaway. It follows that occasional input to Houndaller Pond as a result of storm runoff would not be expected to raise the long-term water level in the pond.

So Aggregate Industries' consultants now appear to have moved from a soakaway rate of 1.8 million cubic metres per year to one approximating just 10% of that. However, even that is a leap. 

Look at this claim again: 

The fact that the pond can sustain long-term and regular abstraction… means that it would be similarly effective as a soakaway. 

Is it correct? similarly effective? 

We asked Google’s artificial intelligence chatbot Gemini to assess the above paragraph for accuracy. One of the Points Needing Clarification or Improvement was: 

* "Similarly Effective as a Soakaway": 

While the pond can sustain the current abstraction rate, it's not necessarily directly comparable to a soakaway. A soakaway is designed to absorb and disperse water into the surrounding soil, while a pond primarily stores water. 

Could Gemini be hallucinating? 

We asked OpenAI’s ChatGPT instead: If a groundwater-fed pond can sustain long-term and regular abstraction would it be similarly effective as a soakaway? 

If a groundwater-fed pond can sustain long-term, regular abstraction, it could theoretically serve some functions similar to a soakaway, but there are important differences in design, function, and environmental impact to consider. 

* Soakaway: A soakaway is designed specifically to manage surface runoff, allowing water to percolate directly into the ground and recharge the groundwater at a controlled rate. It's typically used in areas where rainwater needs to be quickly drained to avoid surface flooding. 

* Pond: A groundwater-fed pond typically has a different purpose, such as wildlife habitat, aesthetics, or water storage. While it may lose some water through infiltration, its primary function isn’t to allow for rapid or direct infiltration into the subsurface layers like a soakaway…. etc etc 

It all sounds like common sense, but just to be sure, we also asked a human hydrogeology expert whether the pond would be similarly effective as a soakaway. He said: 

Not true. No. No. No. 

He explained that it is normally many times harder to get water into the ground than it is to take it out. 

So what are Aggregate Industries’ hydrogeologists playing at? A simple error? A wild assumption? Or just trying to hoodwink the council? 

The hydrogeologists working on the ponding problems at Hillhead, are the same ones working to implement Aggregate Industries’ permission to quarry Straitgate Farm, who will calculate infiltration rates and produce a surface water management plan for the site, a site that sits above flood-prone Ottery St Mary. It’s important they know their stuff, and worrying if they don’t.

Airport objects to planning application for single dwelling & pond next to Straitgate

This week, against officer recommendation, East Devon District Council refused planning application 24/1278/FUL Construction of a new dwelling and associated landscaping | Land Adjacent Upper Spilsby Exeter Road Ottery St Mary – on an area of land adjacent to Straitgate Farm – for two reasons, the second of which was: 

2. It has not been demonstrated that the development would not attract wildlife to the area which could result in a health and safety hazard to users of Exeter Airport contrary to Policy TC12 (Aerodrome Safeguarded Areas and Public Safety Zones) of the East Devon Local Plan, 2015 to 2031 

Exeter Airport’s Airfield Operations and Safeguarding team had objected twice to the application, firstly in July 2024 stating: 

The development is situated within an area of higher ground in the Type A airspace. The creation of new permanent water bodies risks the increase of bird activities within the airspace.

The applicants commissioned a Technical Note in response to Exeter Airport’s objection – pointing to the larger body of open water left by Aggregate Industries at nearby Rockbeare Quarry, and also pointing to the company’s plans for Straitgate Farm approved at appeal. The Technical Note stated: 

The application site is also adjacent to an approved quarry application site (Figure 8). Exeter Airport concluded that the proposed quarry does not appear to conflict with safeguarding criteria subject to a number of conditions (refer to Figure 9). This is despite the creation of ‘ephemeral waterbodies and species-rich wet grassland to be encouraged in low-lying infiltration areas’ (refer to Figure 10), which are more likely to attract conflict species, such as gulls, geese and other waterfowl than the proposed ponds at the application site. 

Nevertheless, Exeter Airport maintained its objection, stating: 

The development is located within the aerodrome safeguarding area in a position on high ground located within the type A airspace. Due to the development's location and AMSL height any potential increase in bird activities cannot be supported and must be mitigated by way of a wildlife management plan. 

 Exeter Airport has received and reviewed the provided assessment of Birdstrike. While this is accepted as an assessment of potential risk it is not accepted as a wildlife management plan and as such maintains its holding objection till a wildlife management plan is submitted to negate the potential risk of increased bird activities in the airspace. 

This is supported as stated in the provided report by ASAN3 as a building development that has manmade landscaping features that have the potential to attract flocks of birds and/or large birds. 

The report makes note of DCC/3944/2017 planning application for Straitgate Quarry as a reference in the area. Straitgate Quarry has a robust provided wildlife habitat management plan (WHMP) including planning conditions of routine site visits, onsite pumping equipment and no new permanent bodies of water to be created therefore can not be used as evidential reasons for the creation of new permanent water bodies within the area. Also, of note straitgate Quarry is situated at lower ground level to proposed development. 

While as report has stated the development is low risk in creating a risk of birdstrikes action must still be taken to negate all risk to aircraft within the area due to the potentially fatal consequences. The aerodrome is happy to provide reference and contacts to assist in the creation of the required Wildlife Management Plan.

Is Exeter Airport holding individuals seeking permission for dwellings to a higher standard than international quarrying conglomerates? 

Exeter Airport did not maintain an objection to Aggregate Industries’ plans for Straitgate Farm, which also sits directly below the landing approach for the Airport, despite the planned creation of water bodies for surface water management and restoration.

       

To allay the Airport’s original concerns, Aggregate Industries commissioned a Wildlife Habitats Management Plan for the site. Nevertheless, Planning Inspectors, in granting permission, conditioned that the site can only be quarried if:  

25. No water body shall be created within the site other than the approved weigh bridge lagoon.  

The reason for this was set out in the condition in its draft form (20): 

To prevent the site becoming attractive to flocks of birds that may lead to an aviation hazard in the interests of public safety and in accordance with Policy M20 (Sustainable Design) of the Devon Minerals Plan. 

Of course, the area of potential open water that would be introduced by quarrying Straitgate Farm is many times greater than what was proposed by planning application 24/1278/FUL.

‘Multinational companies such as Holcim believe they are above the law’

Holcim – the parent company of Aggregate Industries, and the ultimate beneficiary of any winnings at Straitgate Farm – is in the news again, for all the wrong reasons: Kenya: Nightmare at Bamburi Farm:

#Kenya: Swiss-owned cement company @Holcim & US-owned security company @G4S, working alongside a special police unit, have been accused of torture, rape, and assault against local villagers in Denyenye, Kwale county.

In this powerful and hard-hitting investigation, journalists… pic.twitter.com/ezAm939nJh

— Coalition for Human Rights in Development 🌎 (@RightsinDevt) November 15, 2024

These serial reports of abuses on and around Bamburi Farm have prompted calls for redress by the KMA, the Kenyan Human Rights Commission, Berlin-based Transparency International, and the international Coalition for Human Rights in Development. 

These groups are preparing a formal complaint about the multinationals Holcim (Bamburi) and G4S (Allied Universal) and their collusion in these brutal attacks to the OECD in Paris. 

“Multinational companies such as Holcim believe they are above the law and they can commit violations without facing any repercussion,” says Faith Kivuti, Africa regional facilitator of the Community Resource Exchange. “But it’s time to hold them accountable. The OECD complaint against Holcim and G4S is an important step in this direction.”

In news elsewhere:

   

Last year, a @Holcim employee started asking questions about the potential mistreatment of wastewater at the company’s Louisiana facility. Then they fired him. @IlluminatorLA https://t.co/raTuaSdESa

— Concrete Change (@Concrete_Change) October 21, 2024

What does the South West Aggregates Working Party talk about?

According to the South West Aggregates Working Party Annual Report 2022, published in December 2023, an Aggregate Working Party is: 

A technical advisory group of mineral planning authorities and other relevant organisations who work together to produce data on aggregate demand and supply in their area and to provide advice to mineral planning authorities and to the National Aggregate Co-ordination Group.

Cornwall Council provides the current Chair of the SWAWP. Minutes of meetings and annual reports can be found here. 

David Jarvis Associates, re-awarded the contract to provide ‘Technical Secretariat’ services to the South West Aggregates Working Party, says: 

There are a total of 9 AWPs in England covering London; the South East; the South West; the East of England; the West Midlands; the East Midlands; the North West; Yorkshire and Humber; and the North East.

 What sort of things does the South West Aggregates Working Party discuss? 

While it seems there’s little discussion on individual sites, Straitgate Farm did however merit a mention at the January 2023 meeting: 

10. Straitgate appeal decision – update by EH 

EH gave a brief update on the Straitgate appeal decisions, both of which had been allowed. This followed a refusal, against officer recommendation, of an application for the extraction of 1.5mt of sand and gravel at Straitgate. 7 reasons for refusal were cited and all were defended by DCC at inquiry. However, the inspector found that the application was in accordance with mineral planning policy and there were no unacceptable adverse impacts. The decision notice has 53 conditions. DCC estimates that the Straitgate operations will contribute approximately 2 years’ worth of sand and gravel supply to Devon’s landbank. JW& will circulate a copy of the appeal decision for those interested. 

Events surrounding Straitgate Farm and other sites in the South West seemingly caused a flap at the Minerals Products Association, who – concerned about too much "support for localism" by planning committees – made this comment at the June 2024 meeting: 

The MPA has noticed that over the last 12 to 18 months, a number of sites have been issued with decisions by planning committees which are counter to officer recommendations. Similarly, a number of allocated sites have been refused permission. Those refusals that go to appeal tend to get costs awarded against them. These approaches reflect a worrying trend and cast doubt on the value of the local plan process by demonstrating support for localism at the expense of a regional overview. 

However, Devon County Council did not have costs awarded against it at the Straitgate appeal – despite Straitgate being allocated as a Preferred Area in the Devon Minerals Plan, and despite the Council’s refusal being against officer recommendation. Gloucester County Council on the other hand did have costs awarded against it, as we posted here. SWAWP minutes from February 2024 state: 

The Bow Farm Appeal in Gloucestershire had been allowed; as a result of this, it seems likely going forwards that for climate change to carry weight in the determination of a planning application, it will need to be included in a development plan policy. Any such policy is likely to include a requirement for provision of a carbon assessment.

Issues surrounding the Straitgate planning application were the cause of another discussion topic at the SWAWP, after a Freedom of Information request was made to Devon County Council in January 2022, in relation to spurious landbank figures, as we posted about here and here. The FOI request, which was eventually only granted in part after a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office, was: 

Please provide copies of all correspondence between Devon County Council and aggregate companies between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2021 concerning the Devon sand and gravel landbank, and concerning Devon reserves of sand and gravel...

The request eventually produced this response in August 2022, which was in turn disclosed to the Straitgate Public Inquiry. SWAWP discussed the issue in November 2022: 

9. FOI Update EH gave a short presentation on a FOI matter which had affected DCC earlier this year. A summary will be circulated separately from the minutes. However, the matter generated concerns amongst members who thought that there could be significant ramifications from it as operators need to be confident that data which they supply to authorities can remain confidential. PH referred to the standard statistical rule that data should be combined with a minimum of three operators. However, he noted that the BAA encourages its SME members to be as open as possible and he queried whether major problems would result from publication of operator data. SD suggested that the BAA and MPA might wish to make clear that data supplied to authorities is unlikely to remain confidential. PA commented that he was more concerned about the potential for financial viability assessments (fva) to be made public as a result of FOI requests as it was essential that these viability assessments should be protected by confidentiality rules. This had actually happened in one case following an FOI in connection with an LAA which led to forced disclosure of an fva despite assurances from the mineral planning authority that the fva would remain confidential. KP added that GCC usually managed to resist FOI requests, often by pointing towards data that is already in the public domain. However, this is something which industry may want to consider further. CD acknowledged industry concerns on this matter but pointed out that survey returns are critical to the functioning of MASS, especially at the moment in the absence of AMRI. She hoped, therefore, that operators would continue to submit returns as required. CD also noted that a similar situation to that experienced in Devon had last occurred in Staffordshire in 2012, hopefully indicating that it is a rare occurrence. MR and SD agreed that this was something that industry should be aware of and consider addressing at corporate level. 

SWAWP also discussed the UK Supreme Court’s decision to rule in favour of Sarah Finch and the Weald Action Group in their fight against oil drilling plans in Surrey. Greenpeace described the decision as "game-changing": 

This decision should mean that any new fossil fuel projects in the UK must consider all emissions, including those from burning the fuel, not just from getting it out of the ground. This could change how future oil and gas projects are approved across the UK.

Draft minutes from the October 2024 meeting state: 

In terms of the Finch case, DP advised that the MPA’s stance is that this should not have the same application to minerals as they are distinguishable from fossil fuels on the basis that they will not automatically generate a release of CO2 when they are used. Nonetheless, he acknowledged that some authorities are taking a very cautious approach and requiring consideration of downstream effects. DP suggested that the best approach is to acknowledge the Finch case in EIAs but not to overplay it as it does not necessarily apply to every development. A climate change assessment would usually be included in most applications anyway. Government guidance on the Finch case is expected in the new year. EIW had recently attended a useful webinar on Finch, link available here. CH had had some initial discussions with Devon CC regarding Finch and the Council acknowledged it may not be possible to assess scope 3 emissions when aggregate was being produced for multiple sources. The suggested approach was to explain that the Finch case had been acknowledged and considered. 

Planning staff retention was another issue raised at the SWAWP. Minutes from November 2022 state: 

EI-W explained that it would be useful for attendees of other groups, such as the Planning Officers Society (POS), to share updates with the AWP. EI-W is part of a POS working group looking at the issue of recruitment and retention of staff within the public sector minerals planning arena. The working group is gathering evidence and is looking at potential solutions to this issue. This concern was echoed by other members; indeed, it had been raised as a matter for discussion at a recent BAA meeting. PH referred to a course on mineral planning for mineral planners run by IQ. Details of this course will be circulated to members. AG commented that whilst recruitment was a big issue, SCC had benefitted from running its own graduate scheme and had recruited Ellie Maxwell this way. EH added that at DCC, 5 members of staff were at different stages of an apprenticeship which seemed to be working well. 

With regard to land won sand and gravel in the South West, the SWAWP 2022 Annual Report states: 

In 2022, sales of land won sand and gravel in the region totalled 2.75mt, a slight decrease on 2021’s sales figure of 2.92mt and dropping below both the 10 year sales’ average of 3.03mt and the 3 year sales’ average (2.80mt). Dorset continued to be the main production area with a sales figure of 1.21mt, accounting for just over 44% of the region’s sales. Sales in both Devon and Wiltshire were down compared with 2021 with Wiltshire experiencing quite a significant drop down from 0.69mt in 2021 to 0.46mt in 2022. Gloucestershire’s sales figure rose to 0.56mt from a low of 0.45mt in 2021 (which represented the second lowest level of sales in the past 10 years and less than half the decade’s highest level of sales which was achieved in 2019 (0.91mt)). 

Permitted reserves in the South West at the end of 2022 were 18.79mt representing quite a drop from the 2021 figure of 21.18mt and amounting to another all-time low across the region. When based on the average of 10 years’ sales, this reserves’ figure generates a landbank of just 6.2 years which is less than the NPPF’s minimum requirement of at least 7 years for sand and gravel and, as was the case last year when the landbank was 6.9 years, continues to be a cause for concern. Once again, of the sand and gravel producing authorities within the region, Dorset maintained the highest level of reserves at 10.4mt (though down from 2021’s 11.2mt) whilst Wiltshire holds the lowest with just 1.43mt representing a landbank of just 2.7 years based on the 10 year sales’ average. 

As far as things stand currently, in October 2024, the MPA provided a forecast to the SWAWP for the aggregates market in the South West: 

NEW! MPA MINERAL PRODUCTS MARKETS FORECAST - 2024-26, GB Sales volumes of mineral products in Great Britain have fallen more sharply than expected in the first half of 2024, leading to significant forecast downgrades for the year. With no recovery over the summer, ready-mixed concrete is now expected to decline by 12% compared to 2023, sand and gravel by 8%, and mortar by 13%. These adjustments reflect a postponement of the expected market recovery, now shifted from late 2024 to 2025. Smaller revisions have been made for crushed rock and asphalt, which are projected to drop by 3% this year. A return to growth across all mineral product markets is expected to begin in 2025, but from a lower base than originally predicted. This is likely to be driven by a gradual rebound in the housing market, and demand from major infrastructure projects which is expected to continue supporting the market in 2025 and 2026. DP added that sand and gravel sales endured a steep 13.8% decline in 2024H1 compared to the same period in 2023, while sales of crushed rock dropped by 2.3%. The MPA had also recently produced its annual survey report and this revealed that replenishment rates were less than 50% which was a particular issue for sand and gravel. Multiple reasons had been suggested for this – it wasn’t solely the fault of the planning system as most applications were ultimately granted – including a lack of applications being submitted. 

Of course, the MPA has been shouting about replenishment rates of sand and gravel since at least 2010, as we posted here.

Aggregate Industries subjects another community in the UK to years of uncertainty

Residents around Straitgate Farm have been subjected to years of blight from Aggregate Industries’ quarry plans for the site, first lodged in 2015 and still not implemented as we approach the end of 2024. 

Now it transpires that the company has subjected another community to extraordinary delays, this time near Banknock in North Lanarkshire, where plans were first lodged with the local authorities 12 years ago to extract 350,000 tonnes of hard rock per year from Tomfyne Farm, Banton over a 21-year period. 

It’s almost as if Aggregate Industries just couldn’t care. 

Last month, the headline in the Falkirk Herald read "Falkirk area villagers rocked by quarry concerns as 2012 plans resurface": 

According to online planning documents from September this year, there has been a “protracted period of discussions with a number of parties” connected to Tomfyne and Cowdenhill which have only recently been concluded and which led to the long delay in bringing matters to a close on the proposed application all those years before.

Aggregate Industries’ planning application 12/00729/FUL Tomfyne Farm, Banton, North Lanarkshire G65 0RJ can be found here.

Aggregate Industries’ Straitgate update for October

In February 2023, Aggregate Industries agreed to provide monthly updates by email to include what the company has done over the previous month relating to implementing its planning permission to quarry Straitgate Farm, and what it is planning for the following month and future dates – as we posted at the time. Previous updates supplied by the company can be found here. 

Aggregate Industries today provided the following update for October: 

Apologies for the delay but no new updates this month.

This followed the company’s September update: 

There is nothing new to report this month but we continue to work on the preparation of the remaining schemes required by condition.

Aggregate Industries won permission to quarry Straitgate Farm on 5 January 2023, and has until 5 January 2026 to implement that permission. There remains an extensive list of conditions and schemes that must be approved by Devon County Council before any soil at Straitgate can be removed.

US campaign group demands concrete change in the construction industry

Concrete Change is "a dedicated campaign demanding concrete change in the construction industry":

The landscape for cement procurement and development is facing tectonic shifts, with unprecedented public funding and demand for cleaner construction materials across the world. This rapid shift toward low-carbon materials will drive the next 40 years of cement production. Companies who fail to scale up low-carbon cement alternatives risk losing market share, creating a risk for investors, our health, and our climate. 

Their sights are set on Holcim – the parent company of Aggregate Industries:

 

Lower Hare Farm, Whitestone: Judicial Review – Pre-commencement Conditions

Before any soil can be removed at Straitgate Farm by Aggregate Industries in relation to its permission to quarry the site, a number of pre-commencement conditions must first be discharged by the company and approved by Devon County Council.

Anyone interested in that process might want to note Item 7 of Devon County Council's Development Management Committee agenda for Wednesday, 23rd October, 2024, concerning a short report produced by the Council relating to the approval of two controversial planning applications (DCC/4101/2018, DCC/4293/2022) for a waste disposal site at Lower Hare Farm, Whitestone, EX4 2HW, and the judicial reviews that followed, filed by Whitestone Parish Council in connection with the discharge of pre-commencement conditions. 

In the Whitestone Parish Council minutes, (more details here, here, and here), it was claimed: 

The DCC seem to have entered wholeheartedly into the spirit of the NPPF and determined that “7 phases” has the same meaning as “3 phases”, that working from West to East is exactly the same as working from North to South, that “inert soils” are exactly the same as “engineering fill” also known as quarrying, mining, demolition and construction waste, that a gradient of “1 in 5” is exactly the same as a gradient of “1 in 10”, etc, etc. 

The Parish Council submitted a judicial review claiming the decision to discharge certain pre-commencement conditions was unlawful on a number of grounds, including: 

the decision to grant approval to carry out further development not authorised in the original permission by way of discharge of condition was ultra vires; 

and:

the Council erred in law by asking whether submitted details were ‘acceptable’ rather than considering whether the submitted details met the requirements of the conditions;

Devon County Council conceded on both of those grounds, and says in the report: 

4.4 In the light of this claim for judicial review, the following steps have been implemented within the Council’s Planning team: 

 • training has been provided to the County Council’s planning officers on procedural requirements for the discharging of planning conditions; and 

 • the relevant officer’s report template has been amended to require clearer consideration of the requirements of the EIA Regulations and the need to consider whether the submitted details meet the requirements of the condition.

The full report can be found below:

 

Aggregate Industries’ Straitgate update for September

Aggregate Industries has this week provided the following update in relation to implementing its permission to quarry Straitgate Farm: 

There is nothing new to report this month but we continue to work on the preparation of the remaining schemes required by condition.

‘Dust from lorries has damaged my eyesight’

Aggregate Industries has a history of failing to control dust – as we have previously posted.  

Last year, we posted about the company’s site in Chelmsford and the complaints about dust. At the time Aggregate Industries said: 

We have taken a number of proactive measures to help alleviate the problem. 

Seemingly those measures have not solved the problem:

'Dust from lorries has damaged my eyesight' https://t.co/PAZtTjEhbN

— BBC East (@BBCLookEast) September 23, 2024

An employee who has quit his job has blamed health problems caused by an ongoing issue of lorries kicking up dust and debris. 

Dave Brown, who was described as "part of the furniture" at New Again Auto Reconditioning in Chelmsford, said his eyesight was "gradually going". 

Gary Wray, owner of the car repair firm in New Street, uploaded a YouTube video to his website, Dusty Chelmsford, pinning the blame on Aggregate Industries, whose lorries are "regularly overloaded with no covers". 

The construction supplies company, which pledged to address the problem last year, said: "[We have] invested in extensive improvements at our Chelmsford site." 

It added that Chelmsford City Council’s environmental health team had visited the site and welcomed the changes that had been made. But it acknowledged there was "still room for improvement". 

Dave Brown said he had been suffering eye irritation caused by the dust.

The website Dusty Chelmsford – A blog about air pollution claims: 

The dust from the Aggregate Industries depot is so thick, it can be seen on this satellite image, discolouring trees and bushes, south and west of the depot. The smudge across the map extends to reach two schools in the area, and that is just the pollution that can be seen from space! 

and asks "Are you a whistleblower?" 

If you have inside information about Aggregate Industries, Holcim Group, or any other information as to why government agencies seem so reluctant to do their jobs, you can contact us in complete confidence.

 

One year later, and still no significant improvement. Local businesses continue to suffer due to @Aggregateuk It’s frustrating to see the same issues persist into 2024. #SupportLocal #BusinessChallenges #TimeForChange pic.twitter.com/YjDVs4XS7Y

— Dusty Chelmsford (@DustyChelmsford) September 9, 2024

Venn Ottery bridleway – a community benefit left by AI – still closed

 

When Aggregate Industries was previously working in the East Devon area, it was tasked with providing a bridleway alongside its quarry at Venn Ottery. It was "a condition of the S106 agreement associated with the Blackhill Plant processing permission". The bridleway was supposed to be a benefit left to the community for all the years of aggravation the company had foisted upon them. It was supposed to last for more than just a few years. 

Earlier this year, in – Run-off problems at Venn Ottery. Would AI’s legacy at Straitgate be the same? –  we posted not only about how the area had suffered surface water run-off problems from the quarry, but also about how this bridleway had been washed away. 

Unfortunately, the bridleway had been "adopted by DCC and it is the responsibility of the authority to maintain this feature". 

The Footpath Report for Newton Poppleford & Harpford Parish for the Annual Report 2024 noted: 

In January, bridleway 37 on Venn Ottery Hill had a collapse in the central section of the route caused by water run-off from the old quarry site. The resulting huge void has necessitated closure as the route is now not in a safe condition. The closure order means that the bridleway cannot be used until at least the end of August. 

There is – at the time of writing – no sign of this now dangerous route being repaired. In fact, the void is so deep it is unclear how the current route could be repaired. 

Aggregate Industries once claimed in answer to critics of the Venn Ottery plan, and as we have often had cause to repeat: 

We shall be putting back a lot more than we're taking away. 

Clearly, it was just another vacuous claim.