Tuesday, 28 June 2022

AI’s statement of case


Aggregate Industries, on the other hand, says "no material reason for refusal has been substantiated." Well, they would say that wouldn’t they?

This, and other nuggets of wisdom, can be found in Aggregate Industries' statement of case and wishful draft statement of common ground, for those interested. 

A letter from the Planning Inspectorate to Devon County Council sheds light on what we can expect over the next few weeks. 

Devon County Council has made the assurance to local people that: 
We have forwarded all the representations made to us on the application to the Planning Inspectorate and the appellant. These will be considered by the Inspector when determining the appeal.
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Tuesday, 21 June 2022

Planning Inspectorate issues Start Date for AI’s appeal against Straitgate decision

Following news of Aggregate Industries’ appeal against Devon County Council’s refusal last year for a sand and gravel quarry at Straitgate Farm – posted about earlier this month – the Planning Inspectorate has today started the clock on the process and issued a Start Date. 

The respective references are APP/J1155/W/22/3299799 and APP/J1155/W/22/3299802, where more detail can be found. 

The following timeline is expected:
 
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AI withdraws application to extend Chard Junction Quarry in Dorset AONB

We have previously posted about Aggregate Industries’ unsuccessful attempts to extend its quarry at Chard Junction, a development that would have caused considerable harm to the Dorset AONB for the sake of a relatively small amount of decorative stone. The NPPF affords the highest level of landscape protection to AONBs, where exceptional circumstances are required for major development. 

The application WD/D/19/000451 to extend the quarry was thrown out by Dorset Council last year. 

The company reapplied with application P/FUL/2022/00109 for some 830,000 tonnes – here’s the non-technical summary – with what many thought was essentially the same proposal. It raised the same concerns. CPRE said: 
Exactly as before, CPRE vigorously opposes this application for a new large quarry at Westford Park Farm. There is no significant change to the previous application which was refused. Apparently the material to be extracted has somehow magically changed from decorative sand to gravel for building purposes. 
This is not an ‘extension’, as billed in the application, but a new quarry with a road for haulage. There is a distinct space between the old and new quarry which includes a road. It is again of the greatest importance that this application is for a major development (of a quarry) in the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. 
Aggregate Industries has now withdrawn the revised application. 

A smaller application P/FUL/2022/01971 for 50,000 tonnes at the same site has also been withdrawn. 

EDIT 23.8.22 Aggregate Industries appeals refusal of WD/D/19/000451.
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Sunday, 12 June 2022

Aggregate Industries sued for £8m after botched Silverstone resurfacing

In the same week we learnt that Aggregate Industries is to appeal Devon County Council's decision to refuse a quarry at Straitgate Farm, we also learnt that the company is to be sued for £8m. Some might call that karma. 

Aggregate Industries’ disastrous resurfacing of Silverstone in 2018, and the humiliating public relations nightmare that followed, was the subject of various posts on this blog. It now transpires that Silverstone is suing Aggregate Industries, the self-titled “racing circuit experts”, for £8m in damages: 

We all no doubt wish Silverstone the best of luck.
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Another rural community standing up against the Holcim leviathan


Holcim, previously LafargeHolcim, causes aggravation wherever it goes: 
On the French Atlantic coast, a small town of a few thousand inhabitants is rising up against a powerful opponent: two massive sand mines that have been nibbling away at their land. 

The mines, run by industry giants Lafarge and GSM, already cover a surface of 115 hectares. The two companies have applied for an extension permit that could see their quarries grow by several dozen hectares. 

A citizens' association, La tête dans le sable (Head stuck in the sand), is firmly standing in their way. Its members say they won't let their rural community get sacrificed for the sake of sand.   

"The mining companies will dig huge holes. And that means the aquifer, water reserves found underground which are normally out of sight, are going to be burst open," explains Sylvain Jallot, the association's spokesperson. 

The non-profit claims that least 1 million cubic metres of water will evaporate from the surface each year, the equivalent of the domestic water consumption of about 30,000 people.  

The group has already organised several rallies and is leading a legal battle against the mining companies.
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Tuesday, 7 June 2022

Aggregate Industries appeals


Aggregate Industries won’t take no for an answer. It clearly has no respect for local democracy.

After three failed planning applications, the company has decided to roll the dice again and has submitted a last-minute appeal against Devon County Council’s refusal last year for a sand and gravel quarry at Straitgate Farm. 

Aggregate Industries’ appeal has been lodged with the Planning Inspectorate. A start date for the appeal process has not yet been issued, neither have the company’s grounds for appeal. The appeal is expected to be held by way of public inquiry, which is anticipated to last for 6 days.

Lest we forget, Aggregate Industries’ plans for Straitgate Farm necessitate hauling material 23 miles to Hillhead for processing, an astronomical 2.5 million miles in all. Any sustainability strategy, any ambitious targets the company might have are clearly meaningless.

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