The planning application to quarry Straitgate Farm, DCC/3944/2017, was submitted in 2017 in tandem with another application, DCC/3945/2017, for the:
Importation of up to 1.5 million tonnes of as raised sand and gravel from Straitgate Farm into Hillhead Quarry for processing, together with the widening of a 400 metre length of Clay Lane at Hillhead Quarry, near Uffculme, Cullompton, EX15 3EP
An integral part of the application at Hillhead are proposals for the widening of Clay Lane from its junction with the A38 to the entrance of the Hillhead Quarry/Broadpath sites. The widening of Clay Lane will allow lorries to pass each other safely whilst travelling in opposite directions and remove the need for lorry traffic associated with our operations at Hillhead to travel past existing residential properties on Broad Path.
In its supporting statement for Straitgate, Aggregate Industries touted the widening scheme as a quid pro quo, a 'benefit' to undo the harm of transporting as dug sand and gravel 23 miles to Hillhead:
The proposal to widen Clay Lane at Hillhead will bring benefits to residents at that site and will go some way to mitigating the transport impact of the haulage distance. 6.11
Rather than wait 10 years or more for a planning application to work the Penslade minerals, for this to become a reality, this application proposes to bring about the widening of Clay Lane much earlier. This must be of great benefit to residential amenity and carry significant weight in the decision making process. 5.5.9
However, a separate planning application for the widening of Clay Lane was subsequently submitted in 2018 and approved later that year.
Since the widening of Clay Lane is no longer an integral part of the Straitgate and Hillhead applications, this benefit no longer exists to mitigate the haulage distance from Straitgate to Hillhead, and no longer carries significant weight in the decision making process.
Planning application DCC/3945/2017 is now simply described as:
Importation of up to 1.5 million tonnes of as raised sand and gravel from Straitgate Farm into Hillhead Quarry for processing at Hillhead Quarry, near Uffculme, Cullompton, EX15 3EP
So, pray tell, what benefit will Aggregate Industries now try to sell – to mitigate the transport impact of the haulage distance and the enormous associated emissions?
