County Council approves reopening a Newcastle quarry

A former quarry in Bradwell, Newcastle has been given permission to reopen despite its former director being jailed for waste crime offences.

Staffordshire County Council approved the application to reopen Bradwell West Quarry, in Newcastle, which was lodged by The Old Red Developments Ltd.

The company’s former director, Joe Frizell, was jailed for two years in April for his part in an illegal waste operation at Bonnie Braes Farm, in Bignall End.

Frizell resigned from the company on April 2 – the day he was sentenced – after he was disqualified from being a director for six years. According to Companies House, Zoe Frizell is currently The Old Red Developments’ sole director.

Local MPs, councillors and residents objected to the proposals, raising concerns over the link to waste crimes, and the potential for a recurrence of the problems with landfill gas odours at Walleys Quarry in Silverdale. But officers told the committee that neither the reputation of the applicants nor the problems at Walleys Quarry were material planning considerations – and that a refusal on those grounds would likely be overturned on appeal.

Committee members voted to approve the application, in line with their officers’ recommendation, subject to a raft of conditions aimed at reducing the impact of the quarry.

Bradwell West lies next to the A500, Bradwell Wood and Chatterley Quarry. Clay extraction has taken place on the six hectare site for most of the last 70 years, but previously ended in 2004.

A total of 950,000 tonnes of Etruria marl will be extracted, mostly for the brickmaking industry, and manufacturers wrote in support of the application, saying the clay was needed to support production. Officers said the application should be approved as it complied with the development plan and represented ‘sustainable development’.

They also explained that the Environment Agency (EA) would regulate the site during the restoration phase, and that restricting waste to inert materials should prevent the problems seen at Walleys Quarry.

Local county councillor Graham Hutton, speaking on behalf of residents in Bradwell, Porthill and Wolstanton, said that while he acknowledged the link to previous waste crimes was ‘not relevant’ to a planning decision, it was still a concern for residents.

He said: “Newcastle and its residents suffered greatly at the hands of waste companies, and there have been public purse costs which should never have happened. So as I see it, there’s a need to demonstrate trust by the company.”

The illegal waste operation at Bonnie Braes Farm saw at least 100,000 tonnes dumped between March 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015, which raised the level of the ground by up to seven metres.

Joe Frizell and TW Frizell were among five people and three companies sentenced for their involvement in the operation at Shrewsbury Crown Court. TW Frizell was fined £1 as the company is in liquidation.