New quarry near The Belfry and Aston Villa training ground primed for approval

The plans will go in front of the council next week.

Plans to extract more than half a million tonnes of sand and gravel from a site to the south of The Belfry and Aston Villa’s training ground will go in front of councillors next week.

Warwickshire County Council’s regulatory committee – the panel of 12 elected officials who make the final decision – is being advised to approve the establishment of a quarry on agricultural fields located in between Wishaw and Lea Marston at Tuesday’s meeting at Shire Hall, Warwick (10.30am).

The 16.9 hectare site is to the west of Haunch Lane and east of Reindeer Park, Lea Marston, with the decision requiring the approval of councillors because the southern part of the land has not been allocated for extracting minerals.

The permission, sought by Burton-on-Trent-based Willshee’s Aggregates, would be for eight years and see the current HS2 access off Kingsbury Road utilised. It is left-turn only and National Highways have not objected to the volume of traffic that it is likely to add to junction 9 of the M42.

It is towards the eastern edge of the Warwickshire patch and falls within the area covered by North Warwickshire Borough Council whose environmental health professionals have objected on the grounds of noise, air quality, vibration and the prospect of the land being contaminated land.

The borough is also taking planning enforcement action against the nearby shooting club over noise and a public footpath that is currently closed. It is concerned over the impact of works to remedy that and the quarry work taking place at the same time.

County officers are recommending a condition where those works don’t take place at the same time but only “where this is practicable”.

Lea Marston Parish Council raised an objection on the grounds of visual amenity for local residents and the southern area not being in the Warwickshire County Council Minerals Local Plan. They add that access is in the control of HS2 with highway safety, dust in the air and mud on the road will see the cumulative impacts tot up.

County professionals are content that those issues can be dealt with through planning conditions that “the applicant has indicated they are willing to accept”.

As for the public right of way, the county suggests that “a suitable crossing point would be constructed on the internal haul route, with right of way afforded to pedestrians”.

“Appropriate fencing and/or gates would be installed, with signage marking out the crossing point and all other sections of the footpath on site,” states the report.