New plans for huge sand and gravel pit near Nottingham expected soon after last effort was halted

Plans to a dig a gravel and sand pit in Nottinghamshire are expected to be put in next year after a similar scheme was withdrawn due to environmental issues. Aggregates company London Rock Supplies previously sought permission to open a pit in the fields off the A453, between Clifton and Barton-in-Fabis, but plans were shelved in 2022 after “complex environmental issues” could not be resolved.

Campaigners said the plans would have been a detriment to the area, including the nearby Lark Hill retirement village in Clifton. The Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, which runs Attenborough Nature Reserve, also opposed the plans.

A new firm has since proposed its own plans for the site, which predominantly sits within Nottinghamshire but also goes inside the city borders, to extract 2.5 million tonnes of sand and gravel. A date for when the application will be considered at each authority’s respective planning committees is yet to be determined, but it is understood it will be in 2025.

An update was given during a Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Joint Committee on Mineral and Waste Planning meeting on Friday (November 8). David Arnold, head of planning and environment for Nottinghamshire County Council, said the authority received revised details in February this year.

“The site is an allocation in the Nottinghamshire Minerals Local Plan,” he said. “A new applicant has come forward. It has had an application before but it was withdrawn.

“Sand and gravel would be taken up Green Street and processed on site, and taken on to the A453 to market. The application has generated a significant amount of interest from public and statutory consultees.

“So where we are with this is we have just written to the applicant to ask for more information. Once we have received that information we will be putting further consultations out. We are far from determined, still a long way to go.”

Mr Arnold added the site would be “progressively restored” and contribute high ecological value. Another application has been put forward to extract one million tonnes of gypsum, a mineral used in building materials, fertilisers, and food additives, from land to the north of Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station.

The proposed rate of extraction would be up to 300,000 tonnes per annum over four years, and the site would be restored to grassland once everything had been extracted. “Like Barton-in-Fabis this has generated some interest from statutory consultees and they have asked for further information, so we are going out to consultation with all that information,” Mr Arnold added.