On 3rd June Oxfordshire County Councillors passed Grundon's application to have their planning conditions lifted and their "restoration scheme" passed, in spite of the fact that 2 mature ponds that had to be "protected and enhanced" under the planning conditions no longer exist.

These ponds were a Priority Habitat and the breeding ground of great crested newts - a European Protected Species- and had been surveyed and documented in 2009 and 2013. They were protected under conservation laws.

However, according to Grundon, the only planning requirement they did not meet was the correct gradient of the soil. Grundon simply ignored the fact that the ponds themselves are no longer there. Officers showed Councillors restoration plans featuring the ponds- but again failed to mention that they were no longer there! We told Councillors, this is a case of 'emperor's new ponds': everyone, including planning officers, has carried on pretending the ponds still exist in spite of the evidence of their own eyes! In our view, County Council Directors have little appetite for a prosecution and are unsure where to pin the blame, and since the destruction was carried out while they were supposedly monitoring the restoration, they cannot be considered wholly blameless themselves. At the time, they had never bothered to check whether Grundon had  obtained a licence from Natural England- and surprise, surprise- they hadn't.

Last week we again showed County Councillors photographs taken by Enzygo Ltd in 2013. The larger pond held a metre depth of water with a further depth of around half a metre to the surrounding ground level. This 'pond' is now little more than a shallow depression full of grass and weeds, with no sign of water. It has been in this condition for the past three years. Pond 1 is just as bad.

We showed Councillors before and after photographs of the ponds in May and October 2016 taken by their own Monitoring Officer, when local people saw the extent of the destruction of pond 1. We pointed out that the way damage was carried out sought to escape the scrutiny of Natural England, because Grundon failed to apply for a Mitigation Licence until after they were served with a Breach of Conditions Notice in December 2016 - around 6 months later. The landowner has since admitted that he destroyed the pond's vegetation and trees, but neither he nor Grundon has admitted that the ponds were filled in with soil imported to the quarry. 

Councillors accepted the explanation that the ponds - which according to Enzygo Ltd in 2013 were fed by the water table - had disappeared 'naturally', even though they had been there for many years. We reminded Councillors of the County Ecologist's report in 2018, where he stated: "These ponds are ... unlikely to form substantial water bodies as shown on the approved restoration plan without further intervention".

He continued: "I would be reluctant to accept an altered restoration plan with less habitat, in terms of habitat quality or area. The current situation left as it is ... is not of a comparable quality with properly restored pond." Councillors' decision last Monday disregarded these statements, and sealed the fate of the former ponds.

Local people and supporters of the campaign to Protect Wicklesham Quarry from Development have watched this situation closely for over five years, when we began to express our concern for the restoration and protection of this important site, and opposition to plans to use it for heavy industry. The present situation is that Wicklesham Quarry SSSI is & remains farmland. It must now go through a five year Aftercare Scheme to return it to agriculture. It is not a 'brown field' site as claimed by Faringdon Council, and is clearly outside the town's development boundary. It is part of West Oxfordshire Heights Conservation Target Area and the valued landscape of the Corallian Ridge, and is a nationally designated site for geodiversity. Local people will continue to watch Wicklesham Quarry SSSI and to do whatever we can to protect it. Please carry on following the petition updates. 

Thank you for all the recent messages of support, and for the signatures of many new local supporters.