Posted on November 11, 2024
Plans for a gravel and sand pit in Nottinghamshire are expected to be tabled next year after a similar scheme was withdrawn due to environmental issues.
Aggregates company London Rock Supplies previously sought permission to open a pit in fields off the A453, between Clifton and Barton-in-Fabis. However, plans were shelved in 2022 after “complex environmental issues” could not be resolved.
Campaigners argued the plans would have negatively impacted the area, including the nearby Lark Hill retirement village in Clifton.
The Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, which runs Attenborough Nature Reserve, also opposed the plans.
A new firm has since proposed its own plans for the site, which predominantly sits within Nottinghamshire but also extends into the city borders, to extract 2.5 million tonnes of sand and gravel.
A date for when the application will be considered by each authority’s respective planning committees is yet to be determined, but it is understood this will happen in 2025.
An update was provided during a Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Joint Committee on Mineral and Waste Planning meeting on Friday (8 November).
David Arnold, head of planning and environment for Nottinghamshire County Council, said the authority received revised details in February this year.
“The site is an allocation in the Nottinghamshire Minerals Local Plan,” he said.
“A new applicant has come forward. It has had an application before, but it was withdrawn.
“The application has generated significant interest from public and statutory consultees.
“So, where we are with this is we have just written to the applicant to ask for more information. Once we have received that information, we will be putting further consultations out.
“Sand and gravel would be taken up Green Street, processed on-site, and transported onto the A453 to market.”
“We are far from determined – still a long way to go.”
Mr Arnold added that the site would be “progressively restored” and contribute high ecological value.
Another application has been submitted to extract one million tonnes of gypsum, a mineral used in building materials, fertilisers, and food additives, from land to the north of Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station.
The proposed rate of extraction would be up to 300,000 tonnes per annum over four years, with the site restored to grassland once extraction is complete.
“Like Barton-in-Fabis, this has generated some interest from statutory consultees, and they have asked for further information, so we are going out to consultation with all that information,” Mr Arnold added.
