FARINGDON Quarry has secured permission to mine for eight years more – until the end of 2034 – despite backlash.
Oxfordshire County Council approved the extension, which was requested by Grundon Sand & Gravel, for the 15 hectacre site that produces sand and self-binding gravel.
Existing permission had been due to run out at the end of 2026 and the company were required to restore the site to agricultural use a year after that but the applicant asked for more time to allow for soft sand, gravel and some limestone – more than 800,000 tonnes in total – to be fully extracted.
The council’s report said only a third of the anticipated average output of 50-60,000 tonnes per year had been mined during the early stages, figures that have since improved due in part to the inclusion of a concrete batching plant – facilities to mix the materials on site – in early 2020.
The report said that no extra material would be mined, just that it would be extracted and taken away by lorries over a longer period of time and warned that not granting the permission could see around three quarters of the available material go to waste while needing to source it from somewhere.
Opponents argue Grundon has been stretching the boundaries of their permission.
Little Coxwell Parish Council said permission for the batching plant was granted to “ensure the original completion date of 2026”, adding: “At best, the application for the concrete batching plant was calculated wrongly, at worst it was misleading with every intention to apply for an extension to a later date.”
They were joined by Faringdon Town Council in claiming lorries from the batching plant have been “flouting” a condition that prevents them exiting the site to the right, designed to lessen the impact on local traffic heading towards Little Coxwell.
Councillor Judy Roberts suggested that a camera should be used to monitor alleged breaches by lorries and requesting that the volume of materials extracted is reported to the council in a bid to avoid further delays.
Advised there was no existing requirement to provide extraction information, she said: “We cannot tell them the amount they have to extract but we can ask them to provide a figure for their annual extraction as a condition.”
Councillor Yvonne Constance OBE backed the call, adding: “I think that is entirely sensible, if you put it as a condition they will know we are watching.”
Permission for the extension was granted unanimously with the added condition that extraction figures are provided.
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