Industrial development a stage nearer at AI’s former Blackhill Quarry

East Devon District Council's planning committee will meet on 11 June to decide on a first phase of industrial development at Blackhill Quarry – a site in the East Devon AONB, surrounded by habitat of European importance for wildlife, where Aggregate Industries was granted permission to quarry and process material on the basis that the area would be restored to nature.

Quarrying is an industry of broken promises. We have posted about this before:

Why does quarrying have such a bad name? Take a look at Blackhill
Objections mount for CDE’s planning application for Blackhill Quarry
EDDC approves CDE's planning application for industrial units in East Devon AONB

EDDC planning officers have now recommended approval for the first phase of new development. The committee report reads:

The site lies in the open countryside, this part of which is designated as an area of outstanding natural beauty and lies adjacent to the Pebblebed Heaths SAC, where development should be strictly controlled so that it does not detrimentally impact on the character and appearance of the surroundings.

The principle of B2 industrial development for use by Blackhill Engineering has previously been accepted under the previous application and as such the principle of development cannot be questioned under the current application.

The proposed building would be the first in a phased development of the site, it would be of a suitable scale taking into account the limitations imposed at the outline stage in terms of height such that a building finished in green cladding under a dark grey roof would assimilate well into its surroundings.

Many will obviously disagree that such development "would assimilate well into its surroundings", or that it should be permitted anywhere near Woodbury Common. Aside from the profit motives of the applicant, Clinton Devon Estates, many will obviously wonder why such development – with all the additional HGV movements entailed – wouldn't have been more suited to an industrial estate.

EDIT 26.6.19 Business expansion plan for Woodbury Common site approved:

Cllr Nick Hookway added that he also had a real problem with the application. He said: “I understand the need for jobs but I am at a loss as to how the outline permission was passed by the previous DMC as this doesn’t seem to fit in at all here.

EDDC approves CDE's planning application for industrial units in East Devon AONB

Last month, we posted CDE’s planning application for Blackhill Quarry recommended for approval, and this week, Conservative Councillors at East Devon District Council duly approved the controversial planning application from Clinton Devon Estates for 35,000 sq ft of industrial units at Blackhill Quarry on Woodbury Common – in an area that was meant to be restored back to heathland.

Details on the EDDC Planning Committee meeting can be found at East Devon Watch. Tony Bennett chair of "Wild Woodbury" responded:

There was a fantastic turnout for the meeting and I think it is fair to say everyone left feeling let down, angry, and betrayed. The floodgates are now open.

CDE’s planning application for Blackhill Quarry recommended for approval

Clinton Devon Estates' controversial planning application for 35,000 sq ft of industrial floor space at Blackhill Quarry in the East Devon AONB – in an area that was meant to be restored back to heathland – has been recommended by East Devon District Council officers for approval.

We have previously posted on the subject: Why does quarrying have such a bad name? Take a look at Blackhill and Objections mount for CDE’s planning application for Blackhill Quarry.

For those concerned at this continued industrialisation of Woodbury Common, the application will be determined on 4 September 2018 at 10am at EDDC Council Offices in Sidmouth.

EDDC planners reckon, in the officer’s report, that:

The existing quarry site is served by a dedicated access from the B3180 that allows vehicles to enter and leave via different carriageways that are adjacent to each other, this arrangement would continue for the proposal. When it was operating the aggregate industries trip generation produced around 320 heavy goods vehicle movements per day (160 inbound and 160 outbound) together with vehicle movements for Blackhill Engineering, the proposals would produce around 134 vehicle movements (117 inbound and 117 outbound), being a mixture of cars and heavy goods vehicles, thus resulting in a reduced number of vehicle movements to and from the site. On this basis the proposal would accord with Policy TC7 of the EDDC Local Plan and the guidance contained in Paragraph 109 of the revised NPPF as the residual cumulative impacts on the road network would not be severe.

But whether it's an indication of the care EDDC has taken in assessing this application, or whether the figures presented by CDE have caused confusion, readers will see that "(117 inbound and 117 outbound)" does not equate to "134 vehicle movements".

More importantly, however, the proposal would represent major development in an AONB. On this, the new NPPF is clear:

172. Great weight should be given to conserving and enhancing landscape and scenic beauty in National Parks, the Broads and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which have the highest status of protection in relation to these issues… Planning permission should be refused for major development other than in exceptional circumstances, and where it can be demonstrated that the development is in the public interest.

EDDC obviously doesn’t care about great weight, or have any idea what exceptional means. It says:

It is considered that an exceptional circumstances case can be made given the economic benefits from the expansion of the business on the local economy and through the support that the business will be able to give to the construction of one of the country’s largest construction sites at Hinkley Point C. In addition, there are not considered to be any wider effects on the environment, particularly given the mitigation proposed, and officers are satisfied that there are no alternative site or viable ways of providing an expansion to the business outside of the AONB.

However, it defies belief that there are no alternative commercial facilities nearby, with the city of Exeter, for example, on Blackhill Engineering’s doorstep.

It goes without saying that this sort of thing is obviously the motivation for Aggregate Industries at Straitgate Farm too. It can’t be interested in the inconsequential amount of sand and gravel on offer (23 miles away from its processing plant) or on restoring the defiled site back to farmland. Flogging off the site afterwards for industrial development, on the other hand, makes far more sense.

Blackhill Quarry restoration ongoing

Those following the restoration of Blackhill Quarry on Woodbury Common, part of the East Devon Pebblebed Heaths in the East Devon AONB, may be interested to read DCC’s latest monitoring report. According to the report:

Most of the materials stockpiled were sold by the end of 2017. There are some 17.5 thousand tonnes of 40mm rounds remaining which will be used in site restoration. 1.4

It is expected that all the earthworks will have been completed by the end of the summer as the dry weather has been very helpful in enabling works to be carried out efficiently. 1.7

The grazing is still carried out by a small herd of ponies owned by AI. There are ongoing issues with trespass around Seagull Pond [below] in particular. 1.8

Thorn Tree Plantation (shown below) was the last area to be quarried. We’ve previously questioned how well the restoration was progressing, and indeed – after nearly 10 years of trying to establish heathland – all is not well, according to the report:

Thorn Tree plantation is being managed by grazing but CDE is concerned about the amount of birch seedlings within the compartment. It was agreed at the site visit that these should be pulled, the site sprayed and once it was safe for grazing, the herd of cattle on Budleigh common could use this as a part of their grazing regime subject to cattle management/ movement requirements being met.

Something to bear in mind, when AI claims it can magically restore Straitgate Farm back to the best and most versatile agricultural land.

Restoration is also progressing in Area 6 (Silt Lagoon L3 - top photo), despite AI once claiming this could only be restored with the silt generated from Straitgate:

In the absence of this development [at Straitgate] the existing lagoon will remain as a deep, steep sided, angular lagoon, which is incongruous within the wider landscape setting of the AONB and Pebblebed Heaths.

Contrary to that fabrication, the report makes clear that:

This area is currently undergoing significant earthworks to achieve the revised restoration profile approved in December 2017… AI currently expect that these works will be completed by the end of summer 2018 and the site will be in aftercare by the next monitoring visit. There are sufficient topsoils stored along the top of the site to enable a thin spread of soils across this compartment.

The processing plant has now been completely removed from Area 12 (shown below), which we referred to in Why does quarrying have such a bad name? Take a look at Blackhill and is subject to a planning application by CDE:

The 2010 consent for retention of the plant, stockpiles and lagoons contains a specific condition that the area should be restored to heathland. The landowner is currently pursuing an alternative use for a part of this site with the District Council. Until this is resolved the MPA has agreed to postpone the final agreement on the whole area. Parts of the site are being restored and the plant has been removed and moved to Hillhead Quarry. The offices and weighbridge can be moved quickly and it is intended to store the weighbridge at Rockbeare and to retain the offices until such time as the concrete pad is removed.

AI’s Blackhill processing plant re-emerges at Hillhead, 23 miles away from Straitgate

Since posting in January Blackhill plant to be taken to Hillhead, reconstruction of Aggregate Industries' fixed processing plant - the one that used to blight Woodbury Common in the East Devon AONB and started to come down in December - is now underway at Hillhead near Uffculme.

It is this processing plant that is now intended for each 28.5 tonne load of as-dug sand and gravel from Straitgate Farm. It is this plant that now sits a staggering 23 miles away from Straitgate - a distance which obviously flies in the face of common sense and decency, flies in the face of all the greenwash from AI that "#Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do", and flies in the face of Objective 1 of the shiny new Devon Minerals Plan - which we're told is all about trying to:

secure a spatial pattern of mineral development that delivers the essential resources to markets within and outside Devon while minimising transportation by road and generation of greenhouse gases

AI is currently using mobile processing plant at Hillhead to process the 4 million tonnes of apparently "sand rich" reserves at nearby Houndaller. Even at 300k tonnes a year this reserve will last AI some 13 years or so. But judging by the piles of unprocessed pebbles still sitting stockpiled at Houndaller, the reserve is either not as sandy as we've been lead to believe (and therefore where’s the need for Straitgate?) or the mobile plant is obviously un-suited. On the latter, it wasn't so very long ago that AI said, in its application to quarry the Straitgate resource, that:

New mobile processing plant is to be installed in [Hillhead Quarry] and it is this plant which would be used to process the Straitgate minerals. 3.14

Since then, questions were raised by DCC and by us about the sustainability of processing Straitgate material with mobile plant, and AI has subsequently secured the capital investment necessary to move in the more appropriate fixed plant from Blackhill. In its Reg 22 response to the Straitgate application last year, AI expected that:

the plant will be installed and operational by mid-late 2018... when, subject to planning, mineral would begin to be imported from Straitgate Farm into Hillhead Quarry.

What else is available to AI when Houndaller runs out? AI’s Reg22 response again tells us:

Beyond this, the land 'West of Penslade Cross' which is a 'Preferred Area' in the adopted Devon Minerals Plan (2011-2033) provides a further allocation of mineral reserves of up to 8 million tonnes. If permitted, these additional mineral reserves would extend the life of Hillhead Quarry by a further 20 years, or so.

So you can see why AI would want to site the Blackhill plant at Hillhead. What will be harder for people to see is why the 1 million tonnes (or is it even less now?) of sand and gravel at Straitgate Farm - an uneconomic 23 miles away and less than 10% of what's next-door to Hillhead - is worth the candle?

Meanwhile, for those following events at Blackhill, the photo below shows what the plant area currently looks like. It was due to have been restored to nature by now, but is instead facing an unwelcome planning application from Clinton Devon Estates - as posted in Why does quarrying have such a bad name? Take a look at Blackhill and Objections mount for CDE’s planning application for Blackhill Quarry. Bear in mind, DCC has agreed an extended restoration timetable with AI:

End May 2018 - plant will be completely removed from site. June 2018 commence removal of all concrete bases and ancillary buildings. End 2018 site restoration.

Objections mount for CDE’s planning application for Blackhill Quarry

Aggregate Industries’ permission to process material at Blackhill Quarry on Woodbury Common came to an end in 2016, and the plant is now in the process of being taken down to be re-erected at Hillhead Quarry near Uffculme.

It was widely hoped that this area at Blackhill would be restored, but landowner Clinton Devon Estates made an outline planning application late last year for 35,000 sq ft of industrial units - referred to in the post Why does quarrying have such a bad name? Take a look at Blackhill

Objections to this application in the East Devon AONB are mounting up, and the issue has been covered in the local press:

Woodbury business park expansion would be ‘morally and ecologically wrong’

Plans for Blackhill Engineering expansion submitted

DCC raised no objection to the proposal, but interestingly the Devon Stone Federation did:

This planning application has been drawn to my attention by the Minerals Officer of Devon County Council… Devon Stone Federation objects on the basis that the proposal would sterilise an important underlying mineral.

Sterilisation is a rather bizarre reason - given that the mineral operator is now moving away from the site and dismantling its plant, and given that modification orders to restrict further mineral extraction were served back in 1999 when the East Devon Pebblebed Heaths were designated nature conservation areas of European importance.

But hey, an objection is an objection and should be welcomed, particularly considering what had been intended for this area.

The plan agreed with DCC states that for the processing area, Area 12:

It is anticipated that an alternative use for Area 12 will be sought by the landowner, perhaps a recreational or leisure use which will benefit from the existing hardstanding, office building and workshop to alleviate pressure on the SSSI. It is acknowledged that a planning permission for an alternative use will need to be sought from the Local Planning Authority. Should planning permission not be forthcoming then the office building and workshop will be demolished and removed from site. In addition, the existing hardstanding would be dug up and recycled for potential use on estate roads. The area will then be restored in line with the site restoration principals as agreed by the Quarry Restoration Group at the time. 


Only a select few - landowners, mineral companies, county councils or the like - would have imagined that plans for "a recreational or leisure use… to alleviate pressure on the SSSI" could mean an industrial estate. Objections to planning application 17/3022/MOUT can still be made here.

Nutrients - a constant battle on the East Devon Pebblebed Heaths

Why did Aggregate Industries ever think it could bring hundreds of thousands of tonnes of farmland material to an internationally important area of habitat that has been battling against nutrients for years? And it has been years:

East Budleigh-based Clinton Devon Estates (CDE) says the heathland, opened to the public by Lord Clinton in 1930 and under the stewardship of the East Devon Pebblebed Heaths Conservation Trust, is under threat.

'Invasive' trees and shrubs, like the purple moor grass, have spread due to a build up of soil nutrients over 50 years.

These aggressive plants prevent more diverse plant and animal life from getting a foothold, making vast tracts of land virtually inaccessible to the public.

CDE director John Varley said: "The East Devon Pebblebed Heath is more than 250 million years old, but over the last 100 or we have let it go somewhat."

There was a widespread consultation on the subject in 2009 - a report "The Pebblebed Heaths - An Options Appraisal" spelt out the nutrient problem:

Natural England have carried out assessments of the condition of the heaths and concluded that they are mostly in an unfavourable recovering condition. The main problems for managers of the heaths stem from natural processes of succession, changes brought about by inputs of atmospheric nutrients and the activities of people... Annual inputs of atmospheric nutrients, particularly nitrogen, cause deterioration of the heathland communities of heather and its allies, and help to drive a conversion from heather to grass domination... Atmospheric nitrogen inputs affecting the Pebblebeds in East Devon (including ammonia) and acid deposition reach or exceed the maximum critical load for lowland heaths.

As a result, areas were fenced and low stocking density grazing schemes introduced:

Grazing alone will not achieve the aims of managing the land back to lowland heath, but to be able to bring the cattle in to graze after burning or cutting, will keep the vegetation down for longer and will also help to re-establish the important boggy areas which are home to many rare species of flora and fauna.

And yet, remarkably, the issue of nutrients was overlooked in 2010, when AI won permission from DCC to import material from Venn Ottery to Blackhill - even though some of that material would also come from farmland, even though NOx pollution from AI's HGVs and associated haulage traffic would obviously make the situation worse.

When AI applied to quarry Straitgate Farm in 2015, the company didn't want to go anywhere near the subject of nutrients - despite the fact that Natural England had raised the issue in 2012 and despite DCC's Scoping Opinion:

The potential impacts of importing nitrate rich materials into the environment of Blackhill Quarry to be processed, and the impact on the potential restoration and biodiversity of that site from such movements of material should be assessed.

AI's Environmental Statement drew a complete blank on this subject; Natural England therefore issued an objection and DCC a Regulation 22 request:

The proposal to add the silt washed from the 'as dug' quarried material from Straitgate into the lagoons at Blackhill requires further detailed investigation and analysis. The designated heathland communities surrounding Blackhill quarry are nutrient poor and an increase in available nitrogen as it leaches from the lagoons could result in a change in the vegetation composition of parts of the site and affect the composition of any regeneration that may happen as the quarry site is restored. NE advise that there may be an increase in nitrogen and other soil nutrients due to the land at Straitgate being farmed as a dairy enterprise.

AI came back with a cursory response:

There is therefore little evidence to suggest that the mineral and overburden that would be transported to Blackhill Quarry for processing would contain significant quantities of nutrients that might potentially affect the integrity of the surrounding habitats. 2.14

Yet again, Natural England issued an objection:

Further to the Regulation 22 request for additional information, Natural England remains concerned about the potential importing of nutrients as a result of processing material from Straitgate farm at Blackhill quarry.

Only in 2016 did AI finally get around to testing any material, and when we now find that the nutrient levels of that material are up to 17 times the level expected for soils at Blackhill - hardly 'little evidence' at all - it's as if AI knew what the answer was likely to be all along.

Natural England has objected to the importation of just 40,000 tonnes from Hillhead; there would be up to 25 times more material from Straitgate Farm, where "all water samples showed elevated nitrate (NO3) concentrations reflecting the agricultural catchment" 7.32.

AI needs to forget about Blackhill for good.