Pensioners living in a retirement complex in Clifton have vowed to continue fighting plans for a quarry just over 200 metres away from their home.
In 2024, Land Logical Ltd applied to extract 2.5 million tonnes of sand and gravel from a large site between the village of Barton-in-Fabis and Clifton.
Nottinghamshire County Council’s planning committee rejected the plans in December last year, and Nottingham City Council was due to consider the plans for a small section of the site that sits within its own boundary this year.
However, the applicant has since appealed the county council’s decision to reject the plans and the city council’s failure to determine them in time.
A public inquiry will now take place next year, during which an independent planning inspector will hear evidence from all parties before making a decision.
Sheila Eaton, who is in her 90s and lives at Lark Hill, said: “It has been very stressful for residents. This is not something older people want to be dealing with at this stage of their lives.
“But we are not giving up,” she added, vowing to take the fight all the way to the inquiry next year.
Lark Hill residents argue the quarry could pose a health risk, particularly to those with respiratory conditions.
They also fear the area will become less appealing to future residents, leaving it vacant.
The current quarry application is one of a number submitted over an 11-year period, with each failing to materialise for varying reasons.
A previous application was withdrawn in 2022.
At a meeting of Nottingham’s planning committee back in September, councillors voted that, had jurisdiction over the plans remained with the city council, they would have been rejected.
However, because the developer will be taking the matter to an inquiry, the council had to develop an attack plan to defend its position.
The reasons for this rejection, which will form the basis of the city council’s argument at the inquiry, were considered at a more recent planning committee meeting on Wednesday (October 21).
One of the primary concerns related to the fact that part of the site sits within a “high-risk” floodplain.
Because Holme Pit already experiences annual flooding from the river, it is highly prone to natural silting and thus requires active conservation management to maintain its depth.
Should the site be developed, it could put the nearby Holme Pit Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) at risk of further flooding, it is being argued.
Leslie Ayoola, the chairman of the committee, said: “The proposed development would not provide a sufficiently high standard of environmental protection by virtue of the uncertainty regarding the effects of flooding during the operation of the proposed quarry, which would likely lead to adverse impacts on the Holme Pit Site of Special Scientific Interest.”
He added that the benefits of the proposed development are not considered to “clearly outweigh or justify” the impacts.
It is also being argued that an alternative supply of minerals to maintain the local supply is up for challenge “in the context of declining sales”, meaning the proposed development is contrary to a number of the council’s policies.
Cllr Graham Chapman previously said the lack of objection from the statutory consultees concerned him and that it would be difficult to find a case to defend a rejection at the inquiry.
The public inquiry is expected to take place in May next year.
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By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter