The above photo shows the production of secondary aggregates from china clay by-products at Lee Moor, near Plymouth. It is taken from the Devon Minerals Plan. In August, we posted that Aggregate Industries had submitted another planning application to work minerals in Devon:
Planning application DCC/4146/2019 seeks to continue to work secondary aggregates at Lee Moor, near Shaugh Prior on the outskirts of Plymouth. The site is not far from Drakelands – the tin and tungsten mine at Hemerdon that also sits as an unrestored scar on the Devon landscape after the operator went into administration last year.
AI wants to deepen the extraction area of Tip T1 from 256m AOD to 228m AOD, to realise 4 million tonnes and "secure the future of the site until 2049/50"
We later posted that the Environment Agency had objected:
The previous use of the development site presents a high risk of contamination that could be mobilised during operational phases and pollute controlled waters.
The issue is conflict with the already approved overarching restoration of the Lee Moor complex. Details of which can be found at: https://planning.devon.gov.uk/PlanDisp.aspx?AppNo=DCC/2977/2010
Requiring that the a landform be re‐created for the interim period could be very difficult to justify if not offered by the operator.
The Environment Agency replied:
We take your point.
When the ROMP comes around again, ideally we’d like to see some effort is made towards progressive land‐forming.
This would go some way to addressing those run‐off issues that we highlighted.
And that was that. Three months after being submitted, the application has now been approved with conditions, under delegated powers. This is the officer’s report for anyone interested.
Aggregate Industries – and possibly even the Environment Agency and Devon County Council – must surely wish that every planning application for 4 million tonnes of aggregate could be that simple.
