Plans for a controversial gravel pit spanning parts of Rushcliffe, Nottingham and the wider county’s Green Belt are likely to be considered later this year.
Aggregates company London Rock Supplies previously sought permission to open a pit between Clifton and Barton-in-Fabis, but plans were shelved in 2022 after “complex environmental issues” could not be resolved.
Campaigners said the plans would have been detrimental to the Green Belt land, as well as to residents living at the nearby Lark Hill retirement village in Clifton.
The Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, which operates Attenborough Nature Reserve, also opposed the plans at the time.
A new operator, which is yet to be named, submitted revised plans in February 2024.
It wants to extract approximately 2.55 million tonnes of sand and gravel from the site, with around 2.05 million tonnes coming from within Nottinghamshire and the Rushcliffe borough, and half a million tonnes from within Nottingham.
A processing site would be based at Mill Hill, with access onto the public highway at Green Street, close to the Mill Hill roundabout on the A453.
The application proposes that gravel would be extracted in four phases, with land progressively restored following the completion of extraction in each phase.
During a Joint Committee on Mineral and Waste Planning on Friday (11 July), the application was discussed.
Cllr Bert Bingham, Reform UK’s new cabinet member for transport and environment at Nottinghamshire County Council, said he had yet to visit the site, but would like to “at some point” to consider the potential disruption to nearby residential properties.
A separate planning application was submitted to Nottinghamshire County Council the same year for the working of one million tonnes of gypsum on land north of Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station.
The proposed rate of extraction would be up to 300,000 tonnes per year over four years.
The meeting further discussed plans for the development of a plastic chemical recycling facility and energy recovery facility in Shireoaks Road, Worksop.
An application was submitted to Nottinghamshire County Council in May 2024, proposing to use the process of pyrolysis – the heating of plastics to high temperatures – to recover the hydrocarbons and convert them into a purified petrochemical feedstock.
The application also proposes a small-scale energy-from-waste incinerator facility that would recover heat and energy from feedstock, which would otherwise be diverted to landfill, handling up to 75,000 tonnes of waste every year.
David Arnold, Head of Planning and Environment for Nottinghamshire County Council, said: “All three applications are still being considered and the applications are subject to environmental impact assessments.
“All three applications are subject to further rounds of consultation. We are still in the process of considering these applications.”
The meeting heard that planning officers from both the city and county councils are working closely together on the assessment of the applications.
“The submissions will now be subjected to a further round of joint consultation and publicity,” meeting documents add.
“A date for when the applications will be considered at each authority’s respective planning committees has yet to be determined, but is likely to be later in 2025.”
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