Work to restore land at an Isle of Wight quarry with tens of thousands of tonnes of fill material could continue for another two years.
Supplier of construction and building materials, Wight Building Materials Ltd, has sought permission for more time to carry out land restoration at Hale Manor Quarry, a site previously used to extract minerals.
Prior planning approval
The company currently has prior planning approval to restore the land to the south of Arreton with chemically inactive fill material – waste emanating from Island construction projects.
Extending the restoration work would benefit the environment by providing waste storage capacity and delivering “biodiversity gains”, according to a letter written by the applicant’s agent, Aggregate Industries UK Ltd, to the council planning officer.
The document said,
“The volume and rate of infill is dependent on the amount of construction activity occurring on the Isle of Wight which is prone to fluctuations.
“The economic downturn caused by rising interest rates and cost of living over 2022/23 has caused the slowing rate of restoration infill at the site.
“The resulting impact of this is that it is now not possible to complete restoration of the site by the current expiry date of the 22nd October 2024 and so a Section 73 application is required to modify Condition 1 to extend the expiry date of the Permission to the 22nd October 2026.”
Extension granted in 2022
In September 2022, the council granted permission for an extension of restoration works until October this year.
Permission for both mineral extraction and importing inert material for restoration work at land next to Hale Manor Farm was granted in 2003.
Parish Council neutral
In a public comment published on 15th October 2024, Arreton Parish Council said,
“At the recent meeting Arreton Parish Council agreed a neutral response to this application.
“The council accepts the proposed two year extension to 22/10/2026 for restoration works to be completed but requests that no further extension is granted.”
View the plans
The public consultation runs until 8th November 2024. You can view the plans on the council’s planning register (24/01513/RVC).
A decision on the works extension is expected on 6th January 2025.
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may have been made by OnTheWight. Ed
