If the sandpit's a little larger – 105 acres say – you’re going to need planning permission and an Environmental Statement. What must that contain?
The Environmental Statement must include at least the information reasonably required to assess the likely significant environmental effects of the development listed in regulation 18(3) and comply with regulation 18(4).
(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.
