A controversial application to re-open Bartlett’s Quarry, just outside Frome, was successfully opposed by members of Somerset County Council’s regulation committee last month.
It followed over 100 objections being made by local residents, backed by John Clarke and Martin Dimery, county councillors for Frome West and Frome East respectively, and Michael Gay, Mendip District councillor for the neighbouring Postlebury Ward.
Bartlett’s Quarry is located just over 600 metres from the village of Nunney. A decision to keep the quarry closed for extraction was re-instated in February 2020 and was not due to be reconsidered until the nearby Torr Works had exhausted its supply of stone. Aggregate Industries applied to the council to re-open the quarry in order to compete for perceived demand in the south-east, notably, the controversial HS2 rail link.
John Clarke, the Green Party representative on the regulation committee pointed out that, “The condition that was put in place in 2020 referred to the unacceptable adverse impact on human health on the natural environment. Aside from Aggregate UK stating about HS2 , we haven’t seen any evidence of additional market pressures. I don’t think there’s been adequate transparency about higher demand. In my view there has been no material change since 2020 when the condition to restrict simultaneous extraction from Torr and other AI quarries.”
Martin Dimery, also of the Green Party, though not on the committee, was granted permission to speak on the matter. His concerns were also on the environmental impact. He said, “Only in November did Somerset County Council adopt its climate emergency plan. If we approve this, we will fail to meet our policies at the first hurdle.”
Of the three Frome area councillors speaking on the debate, East Mendip Green Party representative Michael Gay reflected the views of many parishioners in rural areas surrounding Frome when he said, “How will we get to a carbon-neutral Somerset if the south-east’s carbon cost is exported to us? The level of road traffic is already high, and could increase by 62 percent. Such an increase would be extremely detrimental to our parishioners.”
John Clarke added, “There is the risk of further applications by AI and Hanson to expand extractions across the Mendips. This would entail reopening what are currently dormant quarries including Westdown Quarry, and seek to extract below the water table (Whatley, Colmans Quarries) where currently this is not possible because of planning restrictions.”
The committee, comprising of seven county councillors from all political parties across Somerset, took into consideration the economic benefits, but concluded unanimously that Aggregate UK “had not provided sufficient justification for running both Torr and Bartlett’s Quarries in tandem.”
