… is NOT something you will find in Devon County Council’s draft Minerals Plan... is NOT something that Aggregate Industries wants at Straitgate Farm.
But, in New Zealand...
It was widely criticised by residents near the quarries, who feared it would impact their drinking water.
Both the city and regional councils opposed the application.
An independent hearings panel has sided with opponents, writing that the application fell "considerably short of the mark" for protecting groundwater quality.
In an at times scathing decision, the panel pointed to repeated rule breaking at the quarries and poor compliance monitoring by authorities.
The existing rule — staying one metre above the groundwater table — was being broken, along with various other rules such as hours of operation, meaning there was no confidence more relaxed rules would be followed.
"We are simply not confident of the ability of the quarry operators to consistently adhere to such a complex set of conditions for a long period," the panel wrote.
"We view the one metre buffer... to be a critical environmental bottom line that should adhered to 100 percent of the time and strictly enforced by the consent authorities.
"This is clearly not happening."
All expert witnesses agreed that digging deeper would negatively affect groundwater in some way.
