Aggregate Industries has mucked up.
In June 2021, following the submission of planning application 20/2542/FUL, Aggregate Industries secured permission from East Devon District Council for "a new agricultural access onto the B3174 Exeter Road to facilitate an efficient crossing point for the current dairy herd at Straitgate Farm".
Mineral extraction at Straitgate Farm is dependent upon the implementation of this permission.
The Planning Inspectors, who in January granted permission to quarry Straitgate, wrote:
109. Material to this appeal proposal is a planning permission granted by East Devon District Council (EDDC) for a new access to the B3174 Exeter Road to provide a livestock crossing incorporating holding pens. At the time of the Inquiry this permission had not been implemented…
Condition 19 of the Straitgate permission states:
No soil stripping in Phase 1 of the development hereby approved shall be undertaken unless the cattle crossing permitted by East Devon District Council permission ref. 20/2542/FUL has been fully implemented and brought into operation in accordance with the conditions of that permission.
However, as it stands, 20/2542/FUL cannot be implemented.
Aggregate Industries has put the red line planning boundary for application 20/2542/FUL in the wrong location. Facepalm.
What is the red line boundary? Government guidance says:
The application site should be edged clearly with a red line on the location plan. It should include all land necessary to carry out the proposed development…
The red line boundary drawn by Aggregate Industries for 20/2542/FUL does not incorporate the existing gateway on the south side of the B3174, nor the gap in the trees on the north side of the B3174, as specified in the company’s supporting statement. The red line boundary does not match the detailed drawings that formed part of the application.
The permission therefore cannot be carried out in accordance with the approved detailed drawings listed in Condition 2.
East Devon District Council has today confirmed that Aggregate Industries will need to submit another planning application:
I have written to Aggregate Industries drawing their attention to this issue and recommending that they address this issue through a further application.
Local people, councils and statutory bodies will be able to respond to a new application in the normal way.
Until that application has been approved, and implemented, no digging can start at Straitgate Farm.
