An application for a new quarry to supply essential construction materials to the local building trade, which will also safeguard scores of Island jobs, is being prepared for submission to Isle of Wight Council planners.
The application by Wight Building Materials is to extract sand and gravel, in managed phases, from 12 hectares of agricultural land at Palmers Farm near Wootton. Over a 10-year period the site will be extracted and progressively restored.
The new site is vital to the future of indigenous Island sand and gravel supplies and without it, imports of sand and gravel will be required to maintain supply. It is also essential to the future of Wight Building Materials and its near 40-strong workforce.
It is anticipated that the business’ existing permitted reserves of sand and gravel on the Island will have been extracted by 2023. The Palmers Farm site, therefore, represents an important source of sand and gravel that will maintain a secure supply of construction materials to the Island’s economy for the next 10 years.
The site will be typically worked by just 2 vehicles during daylight hours only and not at weekends nor bank holidays. There will be no processing of materials on site – this will be done at the company’s established facility at St George’s Down.
There will be a maximum of 25 loads taken from the site daily via an improved access off Brocks Copse Road. A comprehensive traffic management plan to ensure traffic impacts are minimised will accompany the application with a commitment that no quarry vehicles will use Palmers Road.
Wight Building Materials plan, depending on successful determination, to start quarrying activities in 2023 following the implementation of measures to reduce visual impact, minimise noise and to provide alternative habitat for wildlife.
In advance of the application, Wight Building Materials has held briefing meetings with Wootton residents and also will continue to liaise with neighbouring Isle of Wight Council ward members and other elected councillors.
Steve Burton, General Manager, says:
“This is an important project not just for the future of Wight Building Materials but for the wider local economy and we are very keen to bring people with us.
“As a business we try to do things the right way and we are committed to applying the highest operational standards to this project as we do with our others.
“This new quarry is critical to the continued production of construction materials at St George’s Down. Aggregates are the life blood of the business and sourcing sustainable, Island-won material reduces the need both for aggregates to be imported from the mainland and dredged from the sea.
“There are limited reserves of sand and gravel on the Island and this is one of the largest deposits still available for extraction. We are committed to do so responsibly, working with the local community.”
Steve said that comprehensive species surveys have already been undertaken and the application will include an agreed programme to compensate for any habitat lost during quarrying with enhanced neighbouring habitats.
There will be no importation of materials for restoration which will be achieved using site-derived materials only, with soils stripped and stored at the outset and respread over the worked land at the end of the quarrying process.
Great, so not only do we build more houses here, now we need to make a huge quarry and destroy countryside that was too, you couldn’t make it up…..
Don’t be fooled, this is where the entrance for the new “cross Solent” tunnel will be.
If only that was true
No vehicles to use Palmers Road!! That means the only other roads that can be used are Brocks Copse Road leading into Alverston Road, both of which are very narrow lanes.
Makes sense to use Palmers Road but of course that wont happen as too many welthy residents will start to cry and jump up and down.
Typical Island roads planning, absolutely clueless!
So you want to use a busy residential road with lots of children and elderly instead of half a mile of rat run with about 4 houses? It might slow down the the twits that use it at 90mph.
The gravel is in that location and we need it. This route is the lesser of 2 evils. If you don’t want gravel and sand extraction don’t have kids who need houses schools, roads, shops, hospitals etc. etc.
The alternative is 25 lorrys a day on the ferry, then you will moan about that.
It’s just a case of – not in my backyard, but someone else’s is OK.
Palmers road doesn’t have a 6’6″ width restriction on it, unlike Brocks copse rd. Also Palmers rd has pavements, which pedestrians of all ages should be using. The alternative route is more than half a mile too!
Surely Wootton is congested already.
Exactly, that’s why they chose the route away from Wootton.
Lets hope the application is refused.
What if they refused the application to quarry the raw materials for your electric car Batteries? Oh that’s OK as it’s somebody else’s back yard.
I’m sure 1 of their lorry drivers had just been done for speeding.
Just what you want down a little lane.