Two-day inquiry to be held into Hamble Airfield quarry plans
A developer's appealing after the project was unanimously rejected by councillors earlier this year
A two-day public inquiry will be held in April as Cemex fights the decision to block its hugely controversial plan for Hamble Quarry which was refused over its impact on the area.
The Planning Inspectorate has notified Hampshire County Council that the appeal procedure has started, head of development management Lisa Kirby-Hawkes told the regulatory committee on December 11.
It comes after the county council unanimously refused the Cemex application to extract 250,000 tons of sand and gravel a year at Hamble Airfield on May 15.
The application, which gathered 5,744 objections, was refused because lorry traffic would have an “unacceptable” impact on local roads and because Cemex had not demonstrated that air pollution would not impact protected habitats and species.
The committee also noted that the quarry would result in unacceptable flooding impacts.
After an intense meeting where students of The Hamble School spoke about the negative impacts on the health and well-being of the community, the application was refused.
With the decision made, Cemex had six months to appeal the decision based on those three grounds.
On November 26, Hamble Parish Council received confirmation that Cemex had submitted an appeal. The Planning Inspectorate deals with planning appeals, national infrastructure planning applications, examinations of local plans and other planning-related and specialist casework in England.
Lisa Kirby-Hawkes said: “As expected, Cemex submitted an appeal for refusing the planning application at Hamble quarry.
“It has been set for April Fool’s Day April 1 and the following day. There will be a two-day public inquiry.”
Mrs Kirby-Hawkes said the council is arranging a place where the hearing will take place.
However, since the date selected coincides with the start of the county council’s pre-election period, she said she is seeking advice from the legal services regarding the implications that the enquiry could have.
Mrs Kirby-Hawkes said: “As a planning authority, we don’t have any control about when the inquiry sits; we just have been told ‘this is when it is happening’.”
Members asked when the decision could be published. Mrs Kirby-Hawkes said that “interestingly”, the Planning Inspectorate, which is “very clear about what they are going to cover”, gave the end of May for a decision.
More information will be published in the following days.