Gavin Williamson, MP for South Staffordshire, has secured an extension to the public consultation period for a proposed change to the license term of the former Tarmac Quarry.
The original permission granted for the site - recently bought from Lafarge Tarmac by JPE Holdings Ltd. - dictated that the quarry must be returned to nature this year.
However, JPE Holdings Ltd. has applied to extend the license for the extraction of sand and gravel to 2016 and to extend the deadline for complete restoration of the site until 2018.
Gavin contacted the Chief Executive of the County Council and the Planning Authority to seek an extension to the consultation period, following complaints from a number of residents over the lack of a clear deadline.
The residents received a note from the Parish Council, on the 11th January, informing them that they had just three days to raise any objections.
This directly contradicted the information available on the District Council website, which stated that the opening date for the ‘standard consultation’ was the 16th December and that it closed on the 6th January.
Furthermore, there were no details about the consultation process available on the County Council website and the only the publicity relating to the application appeared to be a note at the Wombourne Library and Community Centre, three miles away.
In response to the concerns raised by Gavin, the County Council has now confirmed that the deadline for the consultation period has been extended until Friday 31st January 2014. Furthermore, the website has now been updated with all the information relevant to the application.
Gavin said: “I am delighted that the Council has chosen to extend the consultation period. It seemed absurd that residents would be given only three days to raise any objections to this proposal, which is a matter of major concern to many local people.”
Gavin is currently collecting signatures for a petition to Staffordshire County Council’s Planning Committee to ensure that the sympathetic restoration of the Tarmac quarry site takes place this year, as outlined in the original obligations.
The controversial application follows numerous complaints by residents over HGV traffic travelling to and from the adjacent Seisdon landfill.
The issues raised include damage done to the road and verges, frequent incidents of extremely hazardous driving and unacceptable levels of congestion along the route.