We first posted in June 2016 how Aggregate Industries has been operating its asphalt plant at Rockbeare without planning permission since 2014, and arguably for very much longer. Earlier this year we posted about how it continues to do so.
The original planning permission for this plant was time-limited:
upon completion of the mineral working at the mineral site, the plant hereby approved shall be removed and the area restored ...in the interests of visual amenity.
Last May, AI submitted a planning application to retain the plant. In February of this year, DCC advised:
the deadline date for the determination of this application has been extended to the 7th March 2017 in order to allow further discussions and consideration of biodiversity off setting which may be required as a result of the land occupied by the asphalt plant not being restored for the benefit of nature conservation, as originally envisaged
AI is still dragging its feet on this, and DCC has now arranged another extension:
a further extension to September 29th 2017 [has been agreed] as the planning agent is still awaiting an ecologist report from AI
But why should the area not be "restored... in the interests of visual amenity"?
Production of the sand and gravel feedstock for this asphalt plant is no longer carried out at Rockbeare. In fact, for the foreseeable future, aggregate feedstock for this plant will be produced at least 23 miles away up the M5.
