Straitgate Action Group

In 1965, Straitgate Farm near Ottery St Mary in Devon was bought by ECC Quarries in the hope it would yield 20 million tonnes of sand & gravel. In 2001, Straitgate Action Group was formed to oppose the development and its potential harm to water supplies, ancient wetland habitats, protected species and much more. In 2023, Aggregate Industries – owned by Swiss giant Holcim – was finally granted permission to quarry just 1 million tonnes following a public inquiry. This blog records the story.

PZ10

Groundwater levels in what was known as PZ10, a piezometer on third party land next to Straitgate Farm and previously monitored by Aggregate Industries, are now being recorded manually on an irregular basis to provide an indication of levels in the surrounding area.

These readings in mAOD are plotted above in red, following the data collected by Aggregate Industries from 2013 to 2021 in blue.

PZ10 is constructed in the Budleigh Salterton Pebble Beds. Water levels show a 5m range and a delayed winter recovery. The ground level at PZ10 is 112.25mAOD. The borehole is c.18.7m deep. The maximum groundwater level was recorded at 103.02mAOD on 3 March 2014.

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PZ10