Local people together with other dedicated Wicklesham Quarry SSSI supporters, have opposed Grundon's latest planning application. The quarry operator wants all remaining restoration conditions lifted- but fails to admit that the ponds- a Priority Habitat and breeding site of a European Protected Species- are no longer there, having been trashed and filled in 3 years ago. We say that Councillors can no longer ignore the overwhelming evidence of wildlife crime.
The destruction of the ponds, and when it occurred, were accidentally recorded in the background of photographs taken by an Oxfordshire County Council Monitoring Officer. Following a Freedom of Information Request for the Monitoring Reports we received these photos and realised what they contained. Once the pictures were enlarged, the evidence of deliberate, extensive damage was undeniable.
Faringdon Council has long supported the owners' aim to turn this unique site - which lies in farmland in the high-value landscape of the Corallian Ridge, and contains one of the country's most important palaeontological sites -into a site for heavy industry. In 2014, at a meeting of people involved in the Neighbourhood Plan, including the landowners, the minutes record the comment: "It would be ridiculous to go to the expense of restoring the site, only for it to be ripped up again for employment building purposes”.
In 2016 the owner's agent (also a member of the Neighbourhood Plan Employment Land Group, along with the landowner) approached County Council Officers asking them to lift, or ignore, the planning conditions - a request they refused. Less than 3 months later, the ponds had been destroyed. Information about this meeting was contained in an Internal Review commissioned in response to our complaint that the County Council had long turned a blind eye to what was happening at Wicklesham Quarry, encouraging the landowners to believe they could ignore planning conditions to return the quarry to farmland.
Our objection argues that there is convincing evidence of criminal action at Wicklesham Quarry SSSI. We want Grundon to remove all the soil dumped in the ponds and restore them to the condition they were in up to May 2016. Not until this has been done can the restoration be considered complete. As we told County Councillors last year: "These ponds are an inconvenient fact that stand in the way of the landowner's aspirations to create a site for heavy industry."
Please share this update on social media, and encourage friends and Wicklesham observers to make sure they sign up to the petition to receive further updates. This story is far from over, so keep watching!