Quarry decision ‘failed to assess climate effects’

Quarry decision 'failed to assess climate effects' https://t.co/x5qKVjK1ZE

— BBC North East (@BBCNEandCumbria) April 2, 2025

Plans to build a quarry are in doubt after a council conceded to a legal challenge over how it assessed its possible impact on the environment.

Last year, Northumberland County Council approved a proposal to excavate dolerite - used to produce concrete - near Kirkwhelpington, which would see almost three million tonnes of material extracted over 20 years. 

Law firm Leigh Day said the authority agreed to concede to a claim it "failed to assess the likely climate effects of the development" relating to soil disturbance, meaning the grant of planning permission could be quashed. 

Campaigner John Winslow, represented by Leigh Day and supported by the Environmental Law Foundation, challenged the application in February. 

As a result, the council told Leigh Day it would concede that it did not comply with its obligations under the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 by failing to assess the likely climate effects of the application. 

Ricardo Gama, from Leigh Day, said: "The council will now need to assess those impacts and reconsider its decision to grant planning permission."  

The Environmental Law Foundation is a charity that provides legal assistance: 

We help the voice of ordinary people and communities to be heard on matters affecting the environment in which they live. 

We exist primarily to help socially and economically disadvantaged communities which want to address their concerns, but lack the resources or information to do so. 

In relation to the Kirkwhelpington proposal, the charity writes: 

ELF had a victory in Northumberland, where an application was made for a 28-hectare aggregate quarry which proposed to extract 2.8 million tonnes of dolerite on a site of high ecological importance. The proposal site has a complex mosaic of habitats comprised of purple moor grass and rush pasture and lowland acid grassland, which are habitats of principal importance under section 41 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. It is also home to grassland fungi including waxcaps, which are globally endangered and particularly vulnerable to physical disturbance at the surface. White-clawed crayfish, which are a species of principal importance and are also globally endangered, are present in the nearby River Wansbeck to which the Site drains. The Wansbeck is one of their last strongholds, containing a population of international importance. 

Plantlife and Buglife, two highly respected national conservation charities, submitted objections to the development. When assessing the development, Plantlife cited research estimating that acid grassland can hold 90 tonnes of soil carbon per hectare, which is sensitive to land use change. This carbon had the potential to be released into the atmosphere during the course of development from soil disturbance, and that these carbon emissions had not been assessed in the Environmental Impact Assessment. 

Despite these major environmental impacts, Northumberland County Council formally granted permission to the development at the beginning of February. With the help of Jessica Allen of No.5 Chambers, ELF sent a Pre-Action Protocol letter to Northumberland County Council which, in particular, pointed out that the failure to assess the climate effects of the development was an error in law. This is a point that has been made particularly salient following the landmark case of Finch last year. The Council conceded that they had erred in law on this basis, and agreed to enter into a consent order to quash the decision. Preventing the quarry development was a massive win for the environment and, thanks to Jessica’s assistance, our enquirer was able to achieve justice without having to go through the long, arduous and expensive litigation process.

Holcim UK forced to scale back Uttoxeter quarry plan

Three years ago, Holcim UK (formerly Aggregate Industries) won permission to extend an East Staffordshire sand and gravel quarry. The company is now having to scale back its ambitions after it failed to secure ownership of all the land forming the application site. 

Does the company make a habit of submitting applications for land over which it has no rights? In 2016, Aggregate Industries, as it was then called, was forced to withdraw its application for Straitgate Farm, after it became clear that it did not have the necessary rights over third-party land to implement its site access plans. In 2020, the company submitted a planning application for a cattle crossing to facilitate its plans for Straitgate. This application also relied on third party land, and expired unimplemented three years later.

In Staffordshire, the county council approved the northern extension to Uttoxeter Quarry in 2022, subject to conditions, but the company has now lodged an amended scheme. The Officer’s Report reads: 

1. On 4 August 2022, the County Council’s Planning Committee resolved to permit an application for a northern extension to Uttoxeter Quarry... 

2. In accordance with the Planning Committee’s resolution, a Section 106 legal agreement is required to be completed prior to issuing the planning permission; and all other persons with a relevant interest in the land forming the application site are required to sign the agreement. 

3. The applicant is not able to secure an interest in all the land forming the application site and therefore, not “all other persons with a relevant interest in the land forming the application site” are available to sign the Section 106... 

4. The effect of the applicant not being able to secure an interest in all the land which would be subject of the planning permission principally means that only the sand and gravel within the southern part of the extension area can be extracted by the applicant... 

5. The proposed partial implementation of the approved proposals would result in a reduced extraction area enabling 674,000 tonnes of sand and gravel to be won and worked over a period of approximately 20 months. This reduction of the extent of mineral operations would amount to a loss of 318,000 tonnes of sand and gravel. 

Committee members approved the latest proposals: 

Councillor Philip Hudson, said: "I think local people will be very pleased with what we’ve heard today because a lot of the objections before were about the amount of lorries coming out onto the B5030."

Holcim UK’s Straitgate updates for February and March – still awaited

We’re still waiting for February’s update from Holcim UK (formerly Aggregate Industries) in relation to implementing its permission to quarry Straitgate Farm – monthly updates the company agreed to provide to us back in 2023.

In the absence of any news from the company since last September, and with now just 9 months to go before its permission expires, we can report that there is still no activity on site, and monitoring of boreholes and private water supplies – supposed to be performed monthly, and a requirement of the UU legal agreement – has not been undertaken since January. 

Any update that the company deigns to supply us for March will be posted below.