A fantastic result for Ottery St Mary

Aggregate Industries’ planning application to quarry Straitgate Farm was yesterday refused by the Development Management Committee at Devon County Council. 

A recording of the proceedings can be found here, and the minutes here.

The proposal for refusal was put forward on the grounds of: 

a) the great weight afforded by the NPPF to the protection of heritage assets irrespective of the degree of harm, 

b) the unacceptable impact on human health relating to private water supplies, 

c) the unresolved road safety issues relating to the cattle crossing and children’s bus stop, 

d) the lack of evidence of protected species due to failure to provide up-to-date surveys, 

e) the lack of a surface water management plan, still not produced after all this time,

f) the loss of mature trees and 1.5km of important hedges,

and the impact on climate change. 

The proposal for refusal was carried by 5 votes to 0, with 3 abstentions. 

Following this, the recommendation for the in-tandem application for haulage 23 miles to Hillhead was rapidly re-written, from a recommendation of approval to one of refusal on sustainability grounds. This revised recommendation was then put to a vote and passed unanimously. 

An enormous thank you to everyone involved over the years, including Cllrs Jess Bailey and Roger Giles, and Claire Wright, and to all those who have worked so hard behind the scenes. 

Special thanks as well to the professionals who have helped us along the way, particularly: 

Professor Rick Brassington 

Dr Helen Rutter 

Charlie Hopkins 

Tim Taylor – Khift Ltd 

Richard Moules – Landmark Chambers 

We can highly recommend them all. 

Yesterday was a very good day; a victory for local democracy.