In a breath-taking display of defiance, Grundon Ltd, the operator of Wicklesham Quarry SSSI, has FAILED to carry out the restoration due to have been completed by 30th September 2016. In October 2015, when Grundon applied for around the seventh time to delay restoring the quarry in accordance with planning conditions, local people accused Grundon of "abuse of process". Jonathon Porritt, former Chair of the UK Sustainability Commission, wrote to Oxfordshire County Council and urged them to force Grundon to get on with the restoration. We said Grundon's REAL aim was to avoid restoration altogether. NOW WE HAVE BEEN PROVED RIGHT! The Deputy Director of Oxfordshire County Council responded by imposing strict conditions that "would focus all activity on the restoration of the site". He also said that "the need to see the site restored satisfactorily and expeditiously is now of primary importance for the environment and constitutes an imperative reason of overriding public interest." But in a letter sent to me this week, the County Council lists the following: * “There has been no attempt to cut down and distribute any of the soils stockpiles or bunds of indigenous material, nor the removal of buildings etc., nor the planting of hedges or areas of trees and shrubs”; * “the cutting of the geological SSSI bench along the north eastern section of the quarry face is not in place”; * “The two protected areas to be maintained as ponds are still in place though one has been potentially damaged”; * “The northern bund is now heavily wooded and effectively screens the development from the A420 and the high southern bund between the boundary security fence, screening the public footpath from and the batter dropping to the quarry floor. These bunds were to have been removed by the 30th September, this year and so a breach of condition has occurred”; * “Exports of neither mineral nor the residual waste from demolition appear to have occurred as all the buildings and hardstanding are still in place”; * “up to 2,000 loads of soil are due to have been brought onto the site, but a rough assessment of the heaps present implies that only 10% of the amount due has been imported. Permission to import soils has now ceased.” This astonishing list of failures beggars belief. Not only have they failed to restore the site, they have apparently damaged the protected breeding habitat of Great Crested Newts, and even cut natural vegetation around the ponds. They have not even removed buildings from the quarry! Two weeks after I sent a Freedom of Information Request in September asking whether the quarry had been restored, County Council officers carried out a "spot check" on 4th October 2016 and recorded these findings. Deputy Director Hindle had assured me in February that the Council would carry out "monitoring visits" and write "follow-up reports". It is clear that the visit on 4th October- prompted by my letter - was the FIRST they had carried out- when it was already TOO LATE! I have written to the County Council asking what they intend to do now. I hope and expect they will prosecute Grundon Ltd for their flagrant non-compliance and for damaging the habitat of European Protected Species. I have asked for a review of Grundon's licence to operate quarries in Oxfordshire in light of their shocking disregard for Minerals and Waste Policy and the National Planning Policy Framework. But most important of all, I have said that Grundon must NOT be allowed back into Wicklesham Quarry! The Council MUST now employ a responsible, specialist contractor to carry out the delicate and skilled work of restoration under close supervision and expert monitoring. I believe this is the minimum the public would accept to demonstrate the County Council's sincere desire to remedy this appalling situation. There is a long and troubling history around the County Council's role in Wicklesham Quarry. Public disquiet at the Council's failure to ensure the Quarry's restoration over many years must now give way to loss of public confidence following these disgraceful disclosures. I have urged the County Council to carry out a thorough investigation of ALL aspects of this shocking situation, and asked for a well-considered plan for carrying out the restoration of Wicklesham Quarry by a contractor other than Grundon Ltd. Please donate to the Wicklesham CrowdJustice Appeal to help save this unique and exceptional site! Time is running out if the Judicial Reivew is to be launched! https://www.crowdjustice.co.uk/case/sssi-and-conservationtarget-area/