East Devon District Council's planning committee will meet on 11 June to decide on a first phase of industrial development at Blackhill Quarry – a site in the East Devon AONB, surrounded by habitat of European importance for wildlife, where Aggregate Industries was granted permission to quarry and process material on the basis that the area would be restored to nature.
Quarrying is an industry of broken promises. We have posted about this before:
Why does quarrying have such a bad name? Take a look at Blackhill
Objections mount for CDE’s planning application for Blackhill Quarry
EDDC approves CDE's planning application for industrial units in East Devon AONB
EDDC planning officers have now recommended approval for the first phase of new development. The committee report reads:
The site lies in the open countryside, this part of which is designated as an area of outstanding natural beauty and lies adjacent to the Pebblebed Heaths SAC, where development should be strictly controlled so that it does not detrimentally impact on the character and appearance of the surroundings.
The principle of B2 industrial development for use by Blackhill Engineering has previously been accepted under the previous application and as such the principle of development cannot be questioned under the current application.
The proposed building would be the first in a phased development of the site, it would be of a suitable scale taking into account the limitations imposed at the outline stage in terms of height such that a building finished in green cladding under a dark grey roof would assimilate well into its surroundings.
Many will obviously disagree that such development "would assimilate well into its surroundings", or that it should be permitted anywhere near Woodbury Common. Aside from the profit motives of the applicant, Clinton Devon Estates, many will obviously wonder why such development – with all the additional HGV movements entailed – wouldn't have been more suited to an industrial estate.
Cllr Nick Hookway added that he also had a real problem with the application. He said: “I understand the need for jobs but I am at a loss as to how the outline permission was passed by the previous DMC as this doesn’t seem to fit in at all here.
