Campaigners have lambasted Somerset Council's "bats***" decision to reopen a "mega-quarry" near Frome. Hanson UK (now Heidelberg Materials) put forward four sets of plans back in 2021 to , which lies just off the A361 between and . Each of the four applications identified different parcels of land which could either be quarried or used for storing soil and other waste materials - one of which was the 'quarry void' near the locally cherished Asham Wood.
Local campaigners and councillors . But this celebration has turned to dismay after 's strategic planning committee voted to approve the other three applications by a comfortable margin. Simon Clarke from the Somerset Wildlife Trust was among the objectors who addressed the committee when it met in Shepton Mallet on Thursday afternoon (June 6).
He said: "We are not clear on the phasing of mitigation measures and whether sufficient time will be given to habitat establishment. At a time of climate and ecological emergency, key policy considerations such as climate change and biodiversity net gain must be taken into account." Since the Minerals Plan was last reviewed, two additional quarries have opened in the county - meaning many of the plan's assumptions about demand and extraction levels may be out of date.
Part of the proposal includes the excavation of 168 acres of "wildlife rich landscape" in and around Westdown Farm, to the north of the A361. More than 1,100 people had sent letters to the council objection to the proposals.