Clinton Devon Estates' controversial planning application for 35,000 sq ft of industrial floor space at Blackhill Quarry in the East Devon AONB – in an area that was meant to be restored back to heathland – has been recommended by East Devon District Council officers for approval.
We have previously posted on the subject: Why does quarrying have such a bad name? Take a look at Blackhill and Objections mount for CDE’s planning application for Blackhill Quarry.
For those concerned at this continued industrialisation of Woodbury Common, the application will be determined on 4 September 2018 at 10am at EDDC Council Offices in Sidmouth.
EDDC planners reckon, in the officer’s report, that:
The existing quarry site is served by a dedicated access from the B3180 that allows vehicles to enter and leave via different carriageways that are adjacent to each other, this arrangement would continue for the proposal. When it was operating the aggregate industries trip generation produced around 320 heavy goods vehicle movements per day (160 inbound and 160 outbound) together with vehicle movements for Blackhill Engineering, the proposals would produce around 134 vehicle movements (117 inbound and 117 outbound), being a mixture of cars and heavy goods vehicles, thus resulting in a reduced number of vehicle movements to and from the site. On this basis the proposal would accord with Policy TC7 of the EDDC Local Plan and the guidance contained in Paragraph 109 of the revised NPPF as the residual cumulative impacts on the road network would not be severe.
But whether it's an indication of the care EDDC has taken in assessing this application, or whether the figures presented by CDE have caused confusion, readers will see that "(117 inbound and 117 outbound)" does not equate to "134 vehicle movements".
More importantly, however, the proposal would represent major development in an AONB. On this, the new NPPF is clear:
172. Great weight should be given to conserving and enhancing landscape and scenic beauty in National Parks, the Broads and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which have the highest status of protection in relation to these issues… Planning permission should be refused for major development other than in exceptional circumstances, and where it can be demonstrated that the development is in the public interest.
EDDC obviously doesn’t care about great weight, or have any idea what exceptional means. It says:
It is considered that an exceptional circumstances case can be made given the economic benefits from the expansion of the business on the local economy and through the support that the business will be able to give to the construction of one of the country’s largest construction sites at Hinkley Point C. In addition, there are not considered to be any wider effects on the environment, particularly given the mitigation proposed, and officers are satisfied that there are no alternative site or viable ways of providing an expansion to the business outside of the AONB.
However, it defies belief that there are no alternative commercial facilities nearby, with the city of Exeter, for example, on Blackhill Engineering’s doorstep.
It goes without saying that this sort of thing is obviously the motivation for Aggregate Industries at Straitgate Farm too. It can’t be interested in the inconsequential amount of sand and gravel on offer (23 miles away from its processing plant) or on restoring the defiled site back to farmland. Flogging off the site afterwards for industrial development, on the other hand, makes far more sense.
