SIBELCO could get the green light from Cheshire West and Chester Council next month to build a sand quarry in Allostock – despite hundreds of objections.
The Belgian firm wants to dig up sand from Rudheath Lodge Farm, which sits in both Allostock, in Cheshire West, and Cranage, in Cheshire East.
In a report issued ahead of CWAC’s planning committee on January 8, when councillors will make a decision on the plans, officers have recommended the scheme for approval.
It said: “The proposed development would provide a supply of silica sand to meet an ongoing need for a nationally significant resource.
“Other benefits include the restoration back to agricultural use and wildlife conservation, and the provision of a footpath for long term public amenity use.
“It is considered that on balance the proposed development would not have an unacceptable detrimental impact upon the wider environment and that any negative impacts identified could be overcome by appropriately worded planning conditions.”
Officers believe that the quarry would not have a ‘severe impact’ on nearby roads, that drainage issues could be resolved and that the impact on the natural environment ‘would not be significant’.
They also insist that measures can be put in place to ensure the Jodrell Bank radio telescope can still work effectively – after a report commissioned by Sibelco suggested that the quarry could not be operated at a level quiet enough to meet the requirements of the University of Manchester, which runs the proposed UNESCO World Heritage Site.
But CWAC has received more than 800 objections to the proposed quarry from residents concerned about lorries on neighbouring roads, the impact on wildlife and air quality, and the loss of open countryside.
In a letter to CWAC, Allostock Parish Council insists the potential interference to Jodrell Bank should mean the application is dismissed.
The council added: “We retain the viewpoint that Sibelco’s application is flawed and that the area concerned is totally inappropriate for this type of industrial development.”
Both CWAC and Cheshire East Council must approve the plans if Sibelco is to get permission for the quarry.
CEC gave its part of the quarry the green light in April – although the Government could yet make the final decision for the site as a whole.
Cranage and Goostrey parish councils also object to the scheme, while some residents fear the sand could be used for fracking – although at the CEC meeting where the quarry was approved councillors were told the sand is needed by glassworks in St Helens.
CEC’s strategic planning board is due to consider another environmental report on the quarry next year, but councillors are not expected to be able to overturn their original decision.
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