Hanson’s planning application DCC/4326/2022 submitted last November – subject of this post – to extend working at Town Farm Quarry, near Burlescombe, to raise an estimated one million tonnes of sand and gravel from the Budleigh Salterton Pebble Beds – the same sand and gravel resource that underlies Straitgate Farm – has been approved under delegated powers by officers at Devon County Council.
In contrast to Aggregate Industries' highly controversial scheme at Straitgate Farm, 11 neighbours were consulted around the Town Farm site, with "no objections received."
Town Farm material will be processed at the nearby Whiteball Quarry "approximately 2.5km to the north" on the Somerset border – just 4 miles from Hillhead Quarry, where Straitgate material will be processed. Devon County Council officers:
...considered that maintaining the production of sand and gravel from the Budleigh Salterton Pebble Beds at Town Farm minimises transportation distances to the main markets within Devon and adjoining areas, and therefore, the proposed variation of condition accords with Objective 1 (Spatial Strategy) of the Devon Minerals Plan 2011 – 2033.
Contrast this with the Straitgate decision, where the Planning Inspectors were of the view:
The distance between Straitgate Farm and Hillhead Quarry is about 23 miles. It has not been demonstrated that there is any suitable and available location for processing the mineral closer to the site. Because there is no closer processing facility, the requirement to minimise travel distance would be met.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
As a major purchaser of such material, Devon County Council – having declared a climate emergency – will no doubt favour material with a lower carbon footprint over material with a gargantuan one.
