Down to Endeavour House this morning for the Suffolk County Council Development Committee Meeting at which the second application with regard to the quarry at Chilton was to be decided. I am happy to be able to be one of the first with the news that once again the Committee listened to the representatives of the local community and turned down the proposals. The issue will now be decided by means of a Public Inquiry on appeal.
Once again there was a good crowd of members of the public present, which certainly added to the atmosphere and sense of occasion. Colin, myself, Selwyn Prior, and representatives of a number of parish councils, including Peter Clifford for Chilton and John Steele for Great Waldingfield made heartfelt representations to the Committee, giving a series of excellent reasons why the plans should be rejected once again. A representative from the applicants, Brett Aggregates was also present, and a psychological ‘hiss’ seemed to sussurate around the chamber as he rose to make his case.
I think that the decision was a more difficult one for the Committee this time. When the plans were previously rejected the Members were of course obliged to give reasons. The revised plans from Brett purported to address these concerns so there was little scope to consider other matters at this stage. In addition, there was an expensive appeal in prospect against the first refusal which would have been abandoned if this second application was successful. This would have saved the County Council money and although, as the Chairman of the Committee advised, this should not have been a consideration it clearly weighed with at least one Member.
The heart of the matter was really whether Bretts had done enough to satisfy the committee with regard to road safety concerns on the A134 and beyond. The officers of the County Council, who were recommending approval of the scheme, were not helped by the apparent indecision of the Highways Authority, who it appears are unable to make up their mind as to whether a roundabout or a right hand filter is the safer option at the point of access of the site. This flip-flopping rather suggested that Highways were still unhappy about road safety, and the truth of the matter is that neither alternative really provides a solution to the problem that the stretch of road adjacent to the site is highly dangerous.
There was only one woman Councillor on the Committee this morning, and she made the very good point that the lack of infrastructure in the area meant that it is highly likely that more and more applications of this type will be refused on road safety grounds. This is a clear indication to me that without road improvements in the Sudbury area we are reaching the limits of ‘sustainable development’.
Anyway, a triumph for localism at this stage at least. The organisers of the excellent campaign against the quarry are to be congratulated for their diligence and persistence! The Appeal is to be heard in February.
