Draft Nottinghamshire Minerals Local Plan

Draft Nottinghamshire Minerals Local Plan: Objection to Site MP2s Mill Hill, Barton in Fabis

We are extremely concerned that the above site has been included in the Draft Minerals Local Plan. With so many objections to the site during the planning application consultation, and with the Council's decision on the application still pending, there appears to be no sound justification to include this site. It therefore follows that policy MP2s is not sound.

Of all the sites, the Councils own assessment shows the above site would suffer the most damage during the operational phase, and in the long term, it is the 3rd most damaged site.

The justification to include the site appears to be in order to offer a geographical spread of sites across the County which has no regard to the impact on the site, the Green Belt, ancient woodlands (protected under the NPPF), rare, and in some cases endangered wildlife and habitats, as well as the sites overall unique locally and nationally important conservation value. The Council has not provided any "wholly exceptional reasons" to include this site as required by the NPPF.

We have previously raised concerns over the potential impact to Holme Pit SSSI, both direct and indirect, and these concerns have not been addressed by the developer throughout the process. The developer originally stated that discharging the quarry water into Holme Pit via the Eastern Drain will improve the SSSI's water quality. When this statement was challenged, it was removed from the potential "benefits" to Holme Pit. We question what other misleading statements there are.

Additionally, the negative impact on leisure and recreational pursuits, walking, cycling and horse riding, angling, bird watching and simply enjoying the areas peace and tranquility, cannot be justified either by alleging that the site is more sustainable than other sites in the region or because it is in near to proposed residential developments. What about transporting the materials by barge, which is more sustainable than by road, regardless of distance- there is no mention of selecting sites using this criteria. This is not consistent with the Council's own policy on prioritizing sites where transport by river is available, for example Shelford.

For the above's reasons, HPAG strongly object to the inclusion of site MP2s in the Draft Minerals Local Plan.

Draft Nottinghamshire Minerals Local Plan: Objection to Site MP2s, Mill Hill, Barton in Fabis
We are extremely concerned that the above site has been included in the Draft Minerals Local Plan. With so many objections to the site during the planning application consultation, and with the Council's decision on the application still pending, there appears to be no sound justification to include this site. It therefore follows that Policy MP2s is not sound.
Of all the sites, the Councils own assessment shows the above site would suffer the most damage during the operational phase, and in the long term, it is the 3rd most damaged site.
The justification to include the site appears to be in order to offer a geographical spread of sites across the County which has no regard to the impact on the site, the Green Belt, ancient woodlands (protected under the NPPF), rare, and in some cases endangered wildlife and habitats, as well as the sites overall unique locally and nationally important conservation value. The Council has not provided any "wholly exceptional reasons" to include this site as required by the NPPF.
We have previously raised concerns over the potential impact to Holme Pit SSSI, both direct and indirect, and these concerns have not been addressed by the developer throughout this process. The developer originally stated that discharging the quarry water into Holme Pit via the Eastern Drain will improve the SSSI's water quality. When this statement was challenged, it was removed from the potential "benefits" to Holme Pit. We question what other misleading statements there are.
Additionally, the negative impact on leisure and recreational pursuits, walking, cycling and horse riding, angling, bird watching, and simply enjoying the areas peace and tranquillity, cannot be justified either by alleging that the site is more sustainable than other sites in the region or because it is in near to proposed residential developments. What about transporting the materials by barge, which is more sustainable than by road, regardless of distance - there is no mention of selecting sites using this criteria. This is not consistent with the Council's own policy on prioritising sites where transport by river is available, for example Shelford.
For the above reasons, HPAG strongly object to the inclusion of site MP2s in the Draft Minerals Local Plan.