A setback for opponents of the Chilton quarry

The Report on the Inspector’s examination into the Suffolk Minerals Specific Site Allocations which was published on Friday, does not make encouraging reading for those of us who remain resolutely opposed to the siting of a quarry at Chilton.

The Report, which is now available on the County Council’s Web Site, basically ticks off the legislative requirements that the plan has to meet to be considered ‘sound’. The Inspector concedes that the Council’s practices in preparing the report might be improved in some areas, and she stresses the need for the plan to be updated to take into account the two planning applications that have been refused for the Chilton site. Nonetheless she effectively dismisses the objections that were raised by those working to have the Chilton Site removed from the list of allocated sites.

This is depressing, but not surprising. The Inspector, when making her judgement, is, like anyone exercising a judicial function, heavily restricted by rules and regulations. She not only has to follow strict guidelines in determining whether the plan is ‘sound’, she also has to assume that planning conditions will, when imposed by the planning authority, be obeyed by the users of the site. What she is effectively saying, as I read it, is that a quarry at Chilton is fine if the access is sorted out and operating conditions imposed.

The problem is that anyone with practical experience of planning enforcement knows from other cases that making sure that conditions are met is often an uphill struggle and sometimes impossible. This, in my view, is one of the greatest weaknesses of our planning system, and there seems little will to change this state of affairs.

All is not lost, although had the inspector found that Chilton should be excluded from the next County Council Site Allocation Plan, then the war would have been close to being won. There is still scope to argue that, despite the Inspector’s findings, two refusals of planning permission and strong local opposition are evidence that the site should be excluded in any event when the report is discussed at the County Council prior to its adoption.

It is also possible that any potential operator may not be keen to proceed given the difficulties that have been experienced to date in obtaining planning permission. It is also possible that changed economic circumstances may make the business case for a quarry less compelling.