Last week County Councillors who voted to lift Grundon's planning conditions heard a witness describe how 'extremely dry' Wicklesham Quarry had always been. There had 'never been any water' in the area of the quarry, the witness stated, and the ponds were merely a temporary occurence that resulted from the quarrying and had disappeared 'naturally'. Pond 1, this witness claimed, was the result of a conveniently hidden pump inside a structure that was later removed. Why would it have been necessary to run a pump constantly for over 5 years in this desert-like environment? Unfortunately no one thought to ask.

 A representative from ecologists, Enzygo Ltd,  - who carried out the 2013 survey on behalf of Grundon Ltd which formed part of the planning conditions - even claimed that the dry, shallow ditch that is all that remains of pond 3 was 'the same depth' as it had been in 2013! One councillor wondered if it had filled up because leaves had blown into it! We had reminded Councillors that the actual depth of water in this pond was around one metre, and that in 2013 Enzygo stated that the ponds were primarliy supported by ground water, i.e., the water table. Again, no one on the Committee thought to question this expert's contradictory evidence.

No one from Grundon Ltd turned up at the planning committee, to the disappointment of at least one councillor who wanted to question them, but supporters will be interested to learn that a 2009 report written by the same witness referred to above, entitled "Wicklesham Quarry -Justification and supporting evidence for its inclusion in the Vale of White Horse Local Development Framework" states that a survey found the following:

"Groundwater was encountered at depths between 0.25m and 1.35m below existing ground level, subsequent site visits have confirmed these levels with little or no variation."  And continues:

"Given the high water table it is proposed to raise the site by up to 1.0m to provide a free board to the ground water".

The report goes into considerable detail about preparing the quarry for its intended purpose:

"The quarry floor will be built up to a height and with material deemed suitable for its future use as an industrial development. The area will be adequately drained...The pond at the western end of the quarry will be filled in".

Councillors- you were well and truly conned!