In 1965, Straitgate Farm near Ottery St Mary in Devon was bought by ECC Quarries in the hope it would yield 20 million tonnes of sand & gravel. In 2001, Straitgate Action Group was formed to oppose the development and its potential harm to water supplies, ancient wetland habitats, protected species and much more. In 2023, Aggregate Industries – owned by Swiss giant Holcim – was finally granted permission to quarry just 1 million tonnes following a public inquiry. This blog records the story.
(3) An environmental statement is a statement which includes at least —
(a) a description of the proposed development comprising information on the site, design, size and other relevant features of the development;
(b) a description of the likely significant effects of the proposed development on the environment;
(c) a description of any features of the proposed development, or measures envisaged in order to avoid, prevent or reduce and, if possible, offset likely significant adverse effects on the environment;
And so on.
With a 105 acre sand and gravel quarry, you would therefore expect the Environmental Statement to detail the extent and depth of extraction – basic pieces of information, fundamental to the quarry design, fundamental to determining environmental impacts, and fundamental to mitigating adverse effects. You would also expect this information to be in the public domain BEFORE determination of any planning application – given that:
But for Aggregate Industries' plans for Straitgate Farm, the EA and DCC have made it clear they don't want that. They don't want to see revised extraction depths, areas and infiltration plans BEFORE determination; revised to reflect groundwater levels up to 2.8m higher than AI and its consultants had predicted; predictions that were supposed to have been "defined with confidence" and that had built in "a conservatism". The EA only wants to see workable proposals "immediately before operation of the quarry begins" – well beyond the public's gaze.
Why is this? Good question. Why would the EA and DCC not want to have up-to-date and correct information in the public domain before this planning application is determined? It is a question that has now been put to the boss of the EA, but readers will no doubt draw their own conclusions.
Sir Hugo Swire has written to Sir James Bevan, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, after concerns were raised that Aggregate Industries’ quarry plans for Straitgate Farm do not – and will not – reflect accurate groundwater information prior to determination.
Despite recent groundwater levels that put AI’s quarry plans for Straitgate Farm underwater, last month AI confirmed that it will not be submitting revised plans "following discussion with the EA and DCC". The Environment Agency also confirmed that the agency does not intend to ask for revised plans prior to determination - only "immediately before operation of the quarry begins".
With AI’s quarry plans up to 2.8m underwater, local people and other readers will no doubt find it simply staggering that DCC cannot already confirm that AI will be asked to amend their plans BEFORE determination – as a matter of course – knowing that groundwater levels have been recorded above the proposed base of the quarry at five different locations; knowing that groundwater levels have been recorded above the base of the proposed infiltration areas in four locations - as little as 0.5m below the ground surface - thereby negating their primary purpose of preventing flooding; knowing that the current plans could result in permanent ponding, contrary to the conditions recommended by Exeter Airport; knowing that the current plans contravene the Minerals Plan, which states that any working must be above the water table.
It is utterly ridiculous that this sort of thing – a fundamental part of any quarry design – should not be resolved BEFORE determination, when the drinking water supplies of more than 100 people are at stake.
Sir Hugo Swire has now written to the Chief Executive of the EA:
… These concerns relate to the extraction levels respective to the maximum water table on the site which are now causing considerable concern locally both in terms of possible flooding and contamination of water. It is my understanding that recent rainfall has revealed levels of higher groundwater… Surely what is needed is a robust and workable plan before any permission is given and a plan in which your organisation has an input sooner rather than later. For instance, it may be that the EA will take the view that no development of this site is desirable which would have more weight prior to a planning hearing than it would retrospectively.
It goes without saying that I would be happy to meet your local team to discuss this in greater detail, but I would like them to know that this is a situation that you are personally taking an interest.
Sir Hugo Swire also raised concerns about the haulage distances involved and the vehicle access to the proposed site. He has written to Cllr John Hart, Leader of DCC, pointing out that a safer access proposal has been put forward to DCC by Vectos, with the backing of local people, but that no response has yet been elicited, and that "road safety and the transport of children is causing me real concern" – the access point for AI’s 44-tonne HGVs is used as a school bus stop for pupils from King's and Colyton.
In the UK, the BBC has, at last, woken up to climate change. No longer should we hear our public service broadcaster giving equal weight to climate change deniers, Lord Lawson et al, allowing misleading claims to go unchallenged.
BBC to reporters: "You do not need to include outright deniers of climate change in BBC coverage, in the same way you would not have someone denying that Manchester United won 2-0 last Saturday. The referee has spoken." https://t.co/xDui0gcGZl via @CarbonBriefpic.twitter.com/XLfNdLuKwR
Man-made climate change exists: If the science proves it we should report it. The BBC accepts that the best science on the issue is the IPCC’s position...
Be aware of ‘false balance’: As climate change is accepted as happening, you do not need a ‘denier’ to balance the debate. Although there are those who disagree with the IPCC’s position, very few of them now go so far as to deny that climate change is happening. To achieve impartiality, you do not need to include outright deniers of climate change in BBC coverage, in the same way you would not have someone denying that Manchester United won 2-0 last Saturday. The referee has spoken.
Shell’s assessment foresaw a one-meter sea-level rise, and noted that warming could also fuel disintegration of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, resulting in a worldwide rise in sea level of “five to six meters”... enough to inundate entire low-lying countries.
'In 2015, the cement industry generated around 2.8 billion tonnes of CO2, equivalent to 8% of the global total – a greater share than any country other than China or the US', reports CarbonBrief:
... the cement industry will need to dramatically cut its emissions to meet the Paris Agreement’s temperature goals... only limited progress has been made so far.
... older equipment puts [European producers] behind India and China on energy efficiency.
These tiny rodents spend most of their life among trees and can only travel small distances across open ground. As a result, the continued loss and damage of our native woodland and the hedgerows that once connected it has been disastrous.
But apparently even the aggregate companies – purveyors of habitat fragmentation – love dormice. No, really. Forget about pesky ecological surveys, development delays, mitigation and compensation – look at this from CEMEX. What better way to greenwash a twitter feed?
This is the miniature dormouse, a very skillful rodent from the British Islands. This sleepy animal spends most of its life hibernating, sleeping each year from October until May. How would you caption this photo? pic.twitter.com/15UQym9G8B
Hustings were held at West Hill Village Hall on 14 September. The issue of Straitgate was raised. Here’s how two candidates responded, as recorded by an attendee. The transcript speaks for itself:
Geoff Pratt (Independent) spoke first.
He was opposed to a Straitgate quarry on various grounds including increased flood risk, traffic and dust.
John Sheaves (Conservative)
I don’t know enough about it to give a view. Why would the quarry affect flooding? There was a big quarry at Foxenholes, West Hill for many years with many dirty dusty lorries. Things are better now. The Blackhill Quarry restoration has been masterful. My jury is out on this one. Quarrying techniques have improved dramatically. Exeter Road traffic is the issue; lorries going out of the top end is not an issue.
Tony Howard said Straitgate was a matter for DCC, not EDDC.
Margaret Hall (Chair) asked if any District Councillors wished to comment.
Cllr Roger Giles said that the matter would be determined by DCC, but that EDDC is a consultee and would give its views. Addressing the issue of flooding Roger Giles said that there had been terrible flooding in Thorne Farm Way, Ottery and at Salston, Cadhay and Coombelake on 30 October 2008 - coming up to the 10th anniversary - caused by 4 streams originating at Straitgate Farm. The fear was that quarrying at Straitgate would interfere with the water table and make future flooding more likely. Roger Giles was interrupted by Cllr Philip Skinner, who said he had come to hear the panel speak - not Roger Giles.
A member of the public asked about why the EDDC planning committee had approved an application for industrial expansion at Blackhill Quarry on the East Devon pebblebed heaths.
John Sheaves
I am not familiar with the situation. I have the utmost respect for the way the Clinton Estate manages their estate. It is exemplary.
A member of the public said the question was not about Clinton Estates it was about the EDDC DMC decision in the face of considerable public opposition.
John Sheaves
It’s difficult to be well informed about Straitgate because you cannot get access to the documentation.
Now another AI quarry in Devon has the red seal of Non-Compliance. At Westleigh Quarry "a new access ramp [was] constructed contrary to approved plans", and contrary to conditions that stipulate:
No development shall be carried out other than in strict accordance with the approved plans... unless otherwise agreed in writing with the Mineral Planning Authority.
Readers can find DCC's site monitoring reports for quarries in Devon here.
Westleigh is currently the subject of planning application DCC/4007/2017 to vary the approved working scheme to extract an additional 600,000 tonnes. We've recently posted about the problems that Westleigh has brought to Burlescombe, here and here.
AI is obviously not in any rush to comply with these planning conditions, given that:
The condition was identified as requiring compliance (within 12 months) and listed as AMBER ‘work required’ on 1 August 2017.
And DCC is obviously in no rush to enforce these planning conditions, given that the Council now:
Requires Compliance by the following date 08/08/2019
Two years – for merely "amended working plans... to accurately reflect the circumstances across the site" where AI should be working in strict accordance with the plans – gives the reader another example of how much importance, how much urgency, both mineral operator and council attach to conditions.
So, what hope is there for Straitgate, and the aquifer AI wants to quarry into, when there's such disregard for planning conditions? What hope is there that people wouldn't lose their drinking water supplies, or that supplies wouldn't become contaminated?
And what hope is there for people who lose those supplies, if there's such disregard for timeliness and urgency? How long would it take – "in the opinion of the County Council, in consultation with the Environment Agency, on the balance of probability..." – for DCC to swing into action? How long would it take – "in the opinion of the County Council, in consultation with the Environment Agency..." – for AI to restore alternative supplies, temporary or permanent? How long would people be without water? Days? Weeks? Months? If AI were to be found guilty – "on the balance of probability" – the company promises action "forthwith". But does that mean 2 weeks, 2 months or, as above, 2 years? Does than mean before or after the consultants and lawyers have had their say? What's that promise worth without a number? What's that promise worth with such failings and lack of urgency elsewhere in the county?
Last week, it was announced that an Edinburgh quarry could re-open, after CEMEX – "the second largest building materials company worldwide, only after LafargeHolcim" – agreed to pay a £250,000 bond to ensure the site is restored in 2050.
Readers may remember that the subject of financial guarantees has come up before, in relation to Aggregate Industries' attempts to quarry Straitgate Farm.
The applicant is requested to provide information on other sites either in their control or operated by another company where the proposed working technique is used successfully. Reason: The MPA will wish to consider whether the proposed working technique is a “novel approach” as set out in the NPPF Paragraph: 048 Reference ID: 27-048-20140306 in respect of the requirements for guarantees on the amelioration of impacts on local water supplies should there be any technical failure.
Paragraph 48 says a financial guarantee is justified:
where a novel approach or technique is to be used, but the minerals planning authority considers it is justifiable to give permission for the development...
The obvious conclusion is that AI’s scheme is indeed a "novel approach", and that a financial guarantee would therefore be justified for "the amelioration of impacts on local water supplies should there be any technical failure".
The scene this morning on the B3174. Further evidence that this dangerous stretch of road is unsuitable for Aggregate Industries' plans for up to 200 HGV movements a day.
The incident happened just across the road from where this lorry came off in 2016.
The decision to use the shorter National Circuit rather than the full Grand Prix circuit has been taken to put aside potential concerns following the unfortunate decision taken to cancel the GoPro British Grand Prix MotoGP™ races in last weekend’s wet weather.
But even before the race started there were problems:
Further confirmation, if any were needed, that all is not well with AI's newly resurfaced track.
But warnings had been on the cards for some time, not only from Lewis Hamilton, but also from Dunlop:
The week before the Grand Prix of the Motorcycling World Championship, Silverstone's 6 hours were held at Silverstone. During this car racing event, Dunlop has already warned Daily Sports Car of the existence of a problem: "In general there is less degradation, but in water conditions there is no real drain right now. The water stays on the surface."
If AI was not directly to blame for all this, then you might have thought that AI's "racing circuit experts" – the experts referred to in AI's tweet below – would have known, from the track gradient at least, that drainage might be an issue; you might have thought that AI's "racing circuit experts" would have known that standing water was neither good for cars nor bikes travelling at over 150 mph; you might have thought that AI's "racing circuit experts" would have at least made sure that the track was fit for purpose. And perhaps they did. Perhaps AI's "racing circuit experts" will manage to apportion the blame to another party entirely? Who knows?
What is clear is that this checkered episode may have some way to run yet.
When this farce has been going on for as many years as it has, comings and goings in the personnel involved in helping Aggregate Industries in its effort to win planning permission to quarry Straitgate Farm are to be expected.
Indeed, over the time we've been following events, there have been quite a few changes; only last week, we posted that the principal architect of AI's working plans for Straitgate is no longer with the company.
Now, another player in the Straitgate saga is also set to move on. Some may remember Steve Davies – Area Operations Manager for the South West – from AI’s public exhibitions. His job appears to be up for grabs, according to this advertisement.
Devon County Council are among those in the UK that have invested £9 billion of their workers’ pensions into companies that frack, despite some fierce local opposition.
Peter Scott, from Frack Free Totnes, said:
It’s shocking to see that Devon County Council are directly investing public money into the global fracking industry. Fracking threatens communities, destroys local landscapes, and fuels climate change across the globe. As this industry tries to get a foothold in the UK, it's crucial that our councils take a clear stand against fracking and divest from the companies responsible.
A DCC spokesman commented:
The Committee's primary duty is to seek to obtain the best financial return for its members, but the Committee does consider environmental and social issues in all of its investment decisions.
Friends of the Earth warned:
UK councils should know better than to invest in fracking companies. These companies are inflicting their fracking operations on communities around the world, and this can have significant impacts. Many UK councils have rightly opposed fracking in their own area – however it is shocking that they still support the global fracking industry. We should remember too that the climate change caused by fracking will affect us all, no matter where the fracking is conducted.
How qualified is Mat Oxley to comment? According to the Silverstone web site last month:
Mat Oxley is one of the most experienced, trusted and respected journalists in the MotoGP paddock. A former Motor Cycle News (MCN) GP Reporter, Mat has raced around the world and claimed an Isle of Man TT win along with multiple TT podium finishes. He’s been working in the Grand Prix paddock for more than 30 years and his contacts within the racing teams are among the best in the world.
But if AI had hoped that legal action would contain this PR catastrophe, it's done quite the reverse.
AI's heavy-handed response has now been picked up by the motorsport press. Italian GPOne.com, which "reaches 450,000 motorcycle racing enthusiasts", reports:
In the meantime, Aggregate Industries, the company responsible for having resurfaced the Silverstone track, has decided to take legal action against British journalist Mat Oxley and paper MCN (Motor Cycle News). The reasons are not clear as, like all the media present at the event, they did nothing more than report the normal run of events.
Details on the EDDC Planning Committee meeting can be found at East Devon Watch. Tony Bennett chair of "Wild Woodbury" responded:
There was a fantastic turnout for the meeting and I think it is fair to say everyone left feeling let down, angry, and betrayed. The floodgates are now open.
We take responsibility for the environment and communities we operate in, which is why we continue to increase the number of planted trees for habitat creation 🌳 https://t.co/AMvvMcFBqMpic.twitter.com/SZAVwQ0sYX
— Aggregate Industries (@AggregateUK) May 16, 2018
We posted:
The company claims "The number of trees we plant is always rising". But it's always worth checking AI's claims. Because, if the company's sustainability reports are to be believed, AI planted 16,800 trees in 2013(p21) and 3,400 in 2014(p24).
And what AI fails to mention, of course, is the amount of ancient hedgerow that the company grubs up in the first place, and that the hedgerows the company plants are mere saplings – that will take decades to reach anywhere near what was removed.
At Straitgate Farm, for example, AI wants to remove nearly 1500m of 'important' hedgerow – hedgerows dating back hundreds of years – hedgerows that provide habitat for protected bats and dormice – hedgerows up to 4m wide.
So spare us the greenwash AI. Most people will still regard your business as primarily habitat destruction.
Aggregate Industries - whose business is dependent on digging up rock - has lost its head geologist.
Eddie Bailey, who was Head of Geological Services and Land Survey, has played a central role in the company’s proposal for a quarry at Straitgate Farm since at least 2011. He was responsible for the design of the proposed quarry, and also the unorthodox seasonal scheme to quarry down to a modelled level of the maximum water table; a scheme that has caused much concern and controversy.
Eddie has, nevertheless, been a very personable member of the AI team, and has always been ready to meet with local people to explain the company’s plans.
Last month, he left the company for pastures new, "TBC".
We wish Eddie well in whatever he chooses to do next.
Sand regulates a river’s flow, floodplains store water, recharge ground water, filter pollutants, allows aquatic life to thrive. When sand is taken out, water tables sink, rivers dry up, change course, banks collapse, floodplains get pitted with ponds, silt chokes rivers, vegetation and habitats get destroyed, dust pollution kicks in.
Kerala’s once-in-a-lifetime deluge brought with it rainfall of 2,378 mm over 88 days, four times more than normal — but 30 per cent less and spread over 61 days more than the flood of 1924, the most intense flood in the state’s recorded history, submerging as it did almost the entire coastline. So why has the recent calamity wrought damage on a scale last seen when the state received 3,368 mm rainfall 94 years ago? That’s because Kerala has reduced its capacity to deal with such extreme floods by allowing illegal stone quarrying, cutting down forests and grasslands, changing drainage patterns and sand mining on river beds, experts say.
“Rampant stone quarrying and digging of pits is the reason behind the landslides and landslips, which worsened the situation in the Kerala floods,” Madhav Gadgil, ecologist and founder of the Centre for Ecological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, told IndiaSpend. “These quarries cause deforestation and block the natural streams, which help in reducing the intensity of the floods.”
The road to Ottery St Mary – the gateway to the Otter Valley – formed part of the early stage. The video below shows riders passing Straitgate Farm – the area behind the cyclists screened by trees. Aggregate Industries wants to remove a large number of these mature trees as part of its plans to reduce the farm to a sand and gravel quarry.
Readers would be forgiven for thinking we’ve suddenly gone motorsport mad!
We should of course be posting about Aggregate Industries' protracted struggle to get its act together at Straitgate Farm, but the company’s recent trouble in the world of motorsport provides a distracting interlude – and a reminder to those ready to trust AI to deliver the goods: be it tarmac to racing circuits, hauliers using mobile phones whilst driving on motorways, or excavators digging up an East Devon farm with an unorthodox untested seasonal working scheme where a Grade I manor house and 25 other homes are wholly reliant on the groundwater for their drinking water supplies.
Anyway, rest assured that normal service will be resumed shortly. In the meantime, back to Silverstone.
high performance asphalt from Aggregate Industries which will not only help with the grip on the track, but also water drainage and speed – making those fast corners even faster!
After the 2018 MotoGP British Grand Prix was cancelled, when the newly laid high performance asphalt failed to drain properly, AI must have been desperate for a 'good news' story – in an attempt to bury all the bad publicity. You can imagine the scene at AI HQ after the bank holiday weekend:
Quick, find me a good news story! What do you mean there aren’t any? Give The Wildlife Trusts a call – come up with something, anything, to greenwash this shitstorm!
And hey presto, a couple of days later, the company – whose business model is reliant on digging up the UK countryside – announced "a new 3-year partnership with The Wildlife Trusts". In reality, it wasn’t much of a story, and hardly a new partnership – when AI has already "proudly worked with The Wildlife Trusts for the past ten years" – but the construction press, who have stayed largely quiet about AI’s troubles at Silverstone, couldn’t regurgitate the company’s press release fast enough.
In the world of motorsport, however, partnerships with Wildlife Trusts are hardly going to cut it – with the furore over Silverstone refusing to die down, and the company attracting even more unwelcome attention.
AI has at least now confirmed – to Crash.net – that it is helping Silverstone with their enquiries:
We are working in close partnership with Silverstone and will be conducting a full review of the track resurfacing over the next few days to better understand the issues caused by the extremely wet conditions on Sunday. We will continue to make resources available to assist our client during this difficult period.
But you can already sense the lawyers limbering up during this difficult period. In the language of an unscrupulous builder:
Not our fault gov, t’was the ‘eavens, an act of the Almighty, and anyways the T&Cs don’t say nothin' about rain!
And what a legal tussle there might be, when so many commentators don't agree that the issues were "caused by the extremely wet conditions"; Race Director Mike Webb for one:
Silverstone previously hosted torrentially wet MotoGP races in 2011 and 2015, prompting Race Director Mike Webb to conclude this year's problems were "a direct result of the [new] track surface."
Naturally, there has been a range of other comments in the motorsport press:
Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta says MotoGP's future at Silverstone is not in doubt so long as it undergoes another track resurface, after the current tarmac forced the cancellation of the British GP.
When MotoGP action commenced at the weekend, Marc Marquez – not a rider who normally complains – confirmed the fears by saying after first free practice: "If the people who resurfaced the track got some money after, they have to think about it."
The 2018 MotoGP British Grand Prix will forever appear as a blank mark in the record books, after a botched resurfacing job meant persistent rain on Sunday rendered the Silverstone track impossible to safely race on, forcing a complete cancellation of a grand prix motorcycle race programme for the first time since the snowed-off 1980 Austrian GP.
Giacomo Agostini, 15-time world champion, referred to the cancellation of the British Grand Prix "a gaffe”.
“That's how it is - he explains - Silverstone is an historic track, they can't make this kind of bad impression. It rains and you cannot race? In England?"
Ago, who has significant experience as a constructor, goes on to point the finger at the firm that carried out the work.
"I think the customer who put the resurfacing out to tender and those who didn't resurface the track correctly were both at fault."
"We raced here in worse weather in 2015 with no problems," one senior factory person commented to me, their face signalling a combination of frustration and disgust. The word which cropped up again and again was "disaster", in English, in Spanish, in Italian, in every language spoken in the paddock. And the blame was laid entirely at the door of the circuit, or at the door of the contractor responsible for the resurfacing, who were brought in by the circuit.
As renowned circuit designer Jarno Zaffelli told Italian website Corsedimoto, there are no simple answers. The circuit, the contractor, and the senior staff who signed off on this contract should all consider their positions. Somebody needs to take responsibility for what started off as a minor cock up, but turned out to be a massive systemic failure. After all, what is the point of a circuit in the UK if it can't handle a little rain during the weekend?
On 28 August 2018, we published an article entitled "MotoGP Mutterings: 2018 British Grand Prix" on this website. This article contained inaccurate statements about Aggregate Industries and these have now been retracted.
This was followed by a string of tweets from the author to his 30k followers:
Anyone know a good lawyer? Not asking for a friend
I've been gagged by AI, but this story by @pecinogp comes to the same basic conclusion as mine , as I'm sure every story will (although I don't agree with everything he says). https://t.co/0qGHQENu0n And as for @superbikeplanet saying the British press didn't do its job; well...
Fear not Mat. The placards are done and I’ve recruited some “peaceful protestors” I’m now working on sponsorship from Doc Martens 🤣 pic.twitter.com/1nest71mEn
Here is Mat Oxley in that subsequent interview – carefully avoiding any mention of AI and asphalt – spelling out the dangers of aquaplaning on a bike at 180mph, spelling out that if the race had taken place "there was a good chance we would have lost several riders".
So, really, what is the point of AI's heavy-handed action? Is the gagging of a TT winner and experienced motorsport journalist really going to help the company's reputation? Because every petrolhead and his dog is blaming the track – a track that AI very publicly boasted was laid by them, with material that AI very publicly boasted was suitable for the job. Can it gag all critical comment on Twitter, Facebook, chatrooms, blogs, and from drivers and riders too?
As for the fans, getting any refund when insurance companies are involved – insurance companies who will obviously be pointing to the new track and not just the weather – is likely to be protracted.
EDIT 3.9.18 Further responses from Mat Oxley:
Hi @AggregateUK Since you've threatened me with legal action for doing my job at the Silverstone MotoGP round, I'd like to help you with your job of undertaking a review of your work. I've collated comments from riders, teams & MotoGP management in the hope they will be of use
@AggregateUK Here’s Race Director Mike Webb & his safety reps (& former world champions) Loris Capirossi & Franco Uncini giving their expert opinion on the track. Together they have 111 years of experience of motorcycle racing pic.twitter.com/GGYOkL9Guw
I hope that this information from the people most in the know – the MotoGP riders & their teams – is of use to you in your investigation into what went wrong. If I can be of any further assistance, please let me know
EDIT 10.9.18 Further to the retraction by Motor Sport Magazine, Mat Oxley has revisited the issue:
I’m working on a follow-up to my original Silverstone/Aggregate Industries story, which was taken down from the @Motor_Sport site following legal threats from AI. Should be online tomorrow, if the legal beagles give it the OK 🙄😂
It’s clear that his new article Silverstone: the aftermath has indeed been carefully scrutinised by Motor Sport Magazine’s legal advisers:
It is too early to know the results of that investigation, which is being jointly carried out by Silverstone and Aggregate Industries, the company responsible for resurfacing the race track in February this year. It is therefore impossible to apportion blame for what is undoubtedly one of the worst days in British motorcycle racing.
However, Mat Oxley has spoken to riders involved in the cancelled event, one of whom likened the track to a "big swimming pool... the problem was everywhere...", and another who said "there was too much water everywhere... there wasn’t a worst part of the track because it was all the same."
The article also speaks about earlier problems with the new surface:
I have subsequently discovered that the British MotoGP weekend wasn’t the first time bike racers had run into aquaplaning issues on Silverstone’s new surface. Bemsee staged a club race meeting in April, where riders rode in similar conditions.
On the question of who pays:
Silverstone has announced that it will inform fans about refunds within the next week. To a large extent who pays for that refund – which could be run into the millions – will depend on the findings of the investigation. It is fair to say that the completion of that investigation is being awaited with bated breath by all concerned.
