Air quality fears as decision on new quarry looms

People living in a retirement village in Nottinghamshire have said they are scared for their health over plans to build a new quarry nearby.

Aggregates business Land Logical Limited has applied to create a new sand and gravel quarry plus processing facilities on 210 acres (85 hectares) of land between Clifton and Barton-in-Fabis.

But retirees at Lark Hill Retirement Village - which is only 220 metres away from the development - fear the dust and noise will be hazardous.

In the submitted planning documents, an air quality assessment concluded that because of mitigation work there would be "no significant impact" on air quality, and the development complied with relevant policies.

A decision on whether to approve the plans will be partly made by Nottinghamshire County Council on Tuesday with council officers recommending its approval subject to specific conditions.

Mary Brimelow, 88, said the proposal had left her "appalled" and she would not have moved into her current home if she knew about the planned quarry.

"There will be noise from the machinery going up and down the hill 11 hours a day and half a day on Saturday, but more worrying is the dust," she said.

"We're a community of over 400 people, very elderly, very frail, many of whom already have lung and heart problems.

"And to think that this quarry is going to aggravate all our health conditions... it's more than scary."

Residents have been supported by James Naish, Labour MP for Rushcliffe, who made a written objection to the plan stating that exposure to silica dust had been "unaddressed" in the Dust Management Plan.

Sheila Eaton, who is in her 90s, said it felt like the concerns of residents had been ignored.

"It's a real problem, and the legislation is out of date," she said, referring to the fact that there is no legal minimum distance between quarries and settlements in England.

Previous attempts to introduce a minimum distance include a bill tabled in Parliament in 2021 by Matt Western, MP for Warwick and Leamington, under the 10-minute rule.

Western's unsuccessful bill would have set a minimum distance at 1,000 metres "as recommended by the research", he said at the time.

"You'd seriously have to look at your life, the effect on your health," Ms Eaton added.

Lucy Pollock, a member of the Save the Ancient Valley Environment (SAVE) campaign, has lived in Barton-in-Fabis for 10 years and believes the proposals will devastate well-used countryside.

"It's the kind of countryside that you might see in the Dales or Scotland or somewhere, it's absolutely beautiful," she said.

Under the plans the site would be operational for 12 years, but after that, restoration work would take place.

This would include the creation of lakes and wetlands, as well as areas of scrub, meadow, and grassland.

However, Ms Pollock is unenthused by the plans.

"We've already got Attenborough, and we've already got the river, we don't need greater expanses of water," she said.

"The fact that the replacement plan is nothing to do with what's there currently - beautiful wooded areas - for me it's irreparable damage."

A partial decision on the proposed quarry will be made by Nottinghamshire County Council's planning and rights of way committee, in its role as the Mineral Planning Authority.

The rest of the decision will be down to Nottingham City Council, as a small part of the land is within their boundary.

A representative for Land Logical Limited said the company did not intend to comment before the planning decision.

However, they did refer to the fact that the site had been allocated to become a quarry in the Nottinghamshire Minerals Local Plan, adopted by the county council in 2021.

The quarrying work will also take place in four stages to minimise the "total working area" at a given time.

Addressing concerns about air quality, the air quality assessment included mitigation measures such as using water to dampen material during dry conditions.

This mitigation would result in "negligible impact" of dust.

But the map of wind direction and speed used by the assessment was taken from data at the Nottingham Watnall weather station, eight miles away from the proposed site, which is why locals remain sceptical.

As for noise, an assessment found that the quarry would comply with national and local planning policy.

The site would operate between 07:00 and 18:00 from Monday to Friday, and 07:00 and 13:00 on Saturdays. There would be no working on Sundays or bank holidays.

The meeting to decide whether to approve the plans is due to start at 10:30 GMT.

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