If Aggregate Industries is still clinging to the hope of using Blackhill Quarry beyond 2016 to process any material it might win from Straitgate, then planning appeal decisions are not going its way.
After the one in Staffordshire, mentioned here a couple of weeks ago, here’s another one - this time in Ashdown Forest, which has the same conservation and protection designations as Woodbury Common - AONB, SPA, SAC. In this case the applicant wanted to infill and restore an old quarry with imported inert waste material.
Despite the Inspector agreeing that the "proposal would enhance the character and appearance of the High Weald AONB" and "result in an appropriate measurable improvement to the agricultural use of the land", it would however "jeopardise highway safety along the B2026" and "potentially prejudice any biodiversity interest of the site and harm the nature conservation interest of Ashdown Forest".
Substitute B3180 and Woodbury Common into that last sentence, and you can see why AI is making plans for Rockbeare.
