Controversial plans for a 100-acre quarry near Ottery St Mary have been given the go-ahead after planning refusal was overturned at appeal. 

Devon County Council rejected the Straitgate Quarry application in December 2021. Their reasons included potential harm to ‘heritage assets’ such as Cadhay House, the health risks caused by potential dangers to the water supply, a lack of evidence of measures to conserve protected species and lack of a surface water management plan and subsequent potential flood risks. 

The quarrying company Aggregate Industries (AI) appealed against the refusal and both sides argued their case during a hearing in October which lasted several days. 

Today, Thursday December 5, the planning inspectors published their decision to allow the appeal. This gives the company planning permission to extract up to 1.5 million tonnes of raised sand and gravel over 10 to 12 years, and transport it to Hillhead Quarry near Uffculme for processing.

The appeal hearing examined all the areas of concern, but in each case the planning inspectors concluded that there were not sufficient grounds to block the scheme. They said AI had provided a ‘robust’ hydrogeological assessment and ‘it has been clearly demonstrated that the development would not be likely to result in unacceptable adverse effects on water supplies and human health’. 

With regard to heritage assets, they said ‘there would be no harm to Cadhay House or its garden, and that although there would be less than substantial harm to Straitgate Farmhouse during operations, that harm would be outweighed by public benefits’. 

Concerns had also been raised about potential road safety risks of HGVs using the B3174, but the planning inspectors said this could be managed by limiting the HGV movements. Responding to concerns about damage to the natural environment, they said ‘the proposal would not result in any unacceptable adverse effect in terms of its impact on trees and hedgerows’. 

The county councillor for the Otter Valley, Cllr Jess Bailey, said she is ‘horrified’ by the decision to overturn planning refusal. 

She said: “From my initial reading of the decision notice it certainly appears to me that the Inspectors have failed to recognize the very great harm and risks associated with this proposal and some of their conclusions appear flawed. I strongly disagree with their decision and as far as I am concerned the proposal remains completely unacceptable.” 

The Straitgate Action Group, which has been opposing the quarrying for more than 20 years, said it is ‘disappointed’ with the planning inspectors’ decision. A statement on the group’s website says: “We would like to thank all those who have have campaigned with us, and all those who have so generously supported us over the years – we are so sorry that the end result was not the one we had all hoped for.”