Final decision due on controversial quarry plans off A12

A final decision is due on controversial plans for a new quarry off a major road following delays.

Members of the county council’s development and regulation committee are due to decide on a bid to build a quarry on land at Brockley Wood, just off the A12, near Belstead, on Thursday next week.

Councillors decided to defer the application in early March to allow for further consultation on the latest version of the plans after residents said they didn’t have the opportunity to do so.

But the life of the application dates back to 2022, when Brockley Wood Ventures Ltd submitted the plans.

In March 2024, the authority approved the proposal, but these were subject to a successful legal challenge later in August when the Royal Court of Justice quashed the permission.

During last month’s meeting, several objectors threatened a further legal challenge could be sought if councillors decided to approve the application.

The main concerns included the impact on traffic and the landscape.

During the meeting, Cllr David Busby, representing the area, said the application would ‘destroy centuries of peaceful living’.

Cllr Christopher Hudson dubbed the proposals as ‘environmental vandalism’.

But Neil Ward, of NWA Planning, defended the application by saying the plans had managed to ‘minimise any adverse impacts to within acceptable limits’.

He said the other locations would not work operationally and would be even more visually intrusive.

Since being deferred, the application received seven additional representations, two in objection and five in support — over its lifetime, another 238 letters in opposition as well as formal objections from Bentley, Copdock and Washbrook, Capel St Mary, and Tattingstone parish councils.

According to the company, the 35.7-hectare quarry would extract 2.794 million tonnes of sand and gravel over its 15-year span.

Planning officers have retained their recommendation for approval subject to a list of 59 conditions.

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