Mansfield quarry officials have been told they can move 250,000 tonnes of sand between two sites to allow improvements to a brickworks.
Two Oaks Quarry, off Coxmoor Road in Sutton-in-Ashfield, has been given Nottinghamshire County Council permission to import the sand from its other site in Crown Farm, Mansfield.
Both sites are run by the Mansfield Sand Company, which wants to move the materials so it can make improvements to the Crown Farm site.
It follows adjacent land near Crown Garm being bought by the company as it looks to extend its brickworks facility.
The company asked the Conservative-run authority to vary part of its existing planning permission at Two Oaks so sand can be taken from the Crown Farm site.
It wants the sand removal to take place over a 12-month period as a “one-off” so the Crown Farm works can come forward.
No changes to the operations of the Two Oaks quarry are being proposed by Mansfield Sand through the new plans.
The plans were unanimously supported during the council’s planning and rights of way committee on Tuesday (September 19).
In the meeting, a spokesperson for the applicant said: “[Two Oaks is] a relatively new operation, is the county’s sole producer of high-quality silica sand and makes a significant contribution to the local economy.
“It produces a range of specialist industrial and construction sands and a range of fibre sand products for equestrian and sports uses, as well as the top-dressing of golf courses and football pitches.
“Output is seasonal and the company has two operating sites at present. The second is the brickworks at Crown Farm in Mansfield.
“[We] have recently acquired an area of land adjacent to the existing brickworks and would seek to extend the brickworks facility.
“In order to undertake such a development, it’s necessary to reduce the levels of the new land.
“This reduction will involve the removal of about 250,000 tonnes of sand and [we] wish to transport this to Two Oaks Quarry.”
Councillors were told the variation of planning conditions would not have an impact on the current operation levels at the quarry.
It’s expected the number of HGV lorries transporting sand between the two sites would be no greater than the number of vehicles currently using the site.
Council bosses say the plans would act as an “enabler” for the separate expansion plans at Crown Farm.
Joel Marshall, principal planning officer at the authority, told councillors: “The applicant has calculated the HGV traffic needed to import this sand can be accommodated within current limits.
“We are satisfied the applicant has been able to demonstrate the temporary additional activity would not breach the terms of planning conditions.
“There would be no increase in traffic over and above what has previously been found acceptable.
“There is also a suitable route for HGV traffic between the Crown Farm Way site and the quarry, with these movements running during approved hours and abiding by the quarry routing agreement.
“This would effectively act as an enabler to facilitate the brick factory expansion project. It would give the applicant certainty to continue.”
Separate planning permission for the brick factory project would be required, Mr Marshall added.
This would need to be obtained through the official planning routes and was not approved via the unanimous decision on Tuesday.
