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Quarry plan 'a danger to protected wildlife'
John Roberts Plans to dump 2.5 million tonnes of waste into a quarry near Bradford could endanger protected species, London's High Court was told yesterday.
Denholme resident and town councillor Ann Anderson has taken Bradford Council to the High Court for approving a waste disposal plan for the site in February this year.
Ms Anderson, who lives close to Buck Park Quarry, near Denholme, says the council was wrong to allow the stone quarry to be used for landfill.
And she claims the council failed to adequately consider noise levels, the types of trees, shrubs and hedgerows needed to re-landscape the site – and the impact of the scheme on local populations of bats, badgers and peregrine falcons.
Paul Brown, representing Ms Anderson, of Carperley Crescent, Denholme, said she had long objected to the quarry and is a member of Denholme Town Council which also objects to the development.
He told judge, Mr Justice Crane, planning permission for the quarry was first granted in 1992, subject to a number of conditions, including a requirement that quarrying must stop by
2002.
However in 1998, the quarry operator applied to extend that deadline until 2006, to increase the depth of the workings – and to dispose of 2.5 million cubic metres of controlled waste into the void over a 10-year period. At the time Bradford Council refused permission, but was overruled by central Government.
Planning permission was granted, subject to the requirement that quarrying must stop on the site no later than March 26 2006.
As that date has now passed, Ms Anderson's High Court challenge is focused on the waste disposal plans which the council approved details of in February this year.
Mr Brown told the judge the company behind the scheme, P. Casey (Enviro) Ltd, had to satisfy five conditions as a "necessary pre-condition to the lawful implementation of the permission".
However, the barrister claimed the details provided to the council relating to future landscaping of the site were "inadequate" and the council should have demanded "a full inventory of trees, shrubs and hedgerows" that would be used in the project.
He also claimed details provided to the council concerning a "settlement pond" on the site were inadequate, unenforceable and inconsistent with one another.
Mr Brown said the council had failed to properly consider arrangements for temporary mitigation measures to reduce noise during the waste disposal scheme.
He added that the council also made its decision on an Environmental Statement dating back to 1998, although "background conditions, such as noise, traffic and the ecology were likely to have changed significantly" since then.
He said there was evidence that, since 1998, a badger population had settled in the area, bats have taken to foraging along the quarry access track and peregrine falcons were breeding in one of the quarry faces.
Mr Brown said: "Their known presence in 2006 was therefore a material change in circumstances."
The council and P .Casey (Enviro) Ltd are resisting Ms Anderson's challenge.
The council told the High Court that she had brought her case to court too late.
Mr Justice Crane is expected to reserve his decision until a later date.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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