Minerals & Waste - Longworth
Proposed sand extraction in Longworth, Vale District
Hanson plc has submitted a revised planning application for sand extraction from 69 acres of agricultural land in the Vale District lying to the west of Pinewoods hamlet and extending North from the A420 almost to the Longworth - Hinton Waldrist village road. An earlier submission was withdrawn in 2008 in the face of fierce local opposition supported by CPRE. The revised application would involve the extraction of almost 900,000 tonnes of sand over a period of about 15 years.
The site lies on the Oxfordshire Corallian Ridge, an area of significant geological and landscape importance hitherto free from commercial quarrying. In the Vale Local Plan 2006 the Ridge is protected, in the absence of overriding need, from development that would impair its character and appearance (VWH District Council Saved Policy NE 7).
Oxfordshire County Council has again received many individual letters of objection to the current application, in addition to detailed formal objections presented by both Longworth and Hinton Waldrist Parish Councils and from 'Land not Sand', a group of Longworth and Hinton residents established in 2004 to fight the plans by Hanson. Grounds for objection include damage to the quality of life of local residents (including those in Pinewoods hamlet who live well within 350 metres of the works), dust pollution to local commercial horticulture, and significant traffic hazards at the junction of Pinewoods Road and the A420.
In addition, CPRE Vale District has emphasised that the development would cause permanent damage to an important feature of Oxfordshire’s landscape and to the natural environment and would represent an inappropriate industrial intrusion into a rural area. The CPRE response goes on to point out that the justification for the application is weak and incompatible with the County Council’s emerging Minerals Planning Strategy. In particular the Council’s own figures suggest that there are adequate reserves from existing permissions until 2023, and the Council would prefer to rely thereafter on extensions to existing quarries.
Disappointingly, Natural England chose, without actually visiting the site, to endorse the applicant’s favourable assessment of the visual impact of the development; and officers of the District Council have suggested (as a debating point – their phrase not ours) that the development need not be regarded as contrary to their own saved policy. CPRE have challenged both organisations strongly on their approach.
There is a real risk that if the application is granted it will serve as a precedent that will eventually put the whole of the Corallian Ridge at risk of exploitation. CPRE will continue to resist the application, which is due to be heard by the County Council in April.
Update, 30 April 2012
We are delighted to report that the Hansons' application was unanimously rejected by the County Council's planning committee on 16 April. Many thanks to all those who supported the campaign. We now wait to hear if the application will go to appeal.
Find Out More
Below are a list of links to further information regarding this campaign: