Plans approved to revive dormant quarry near Harborough

The A5199 Welford Road would bear the brunt of the additional traffic as the only access point to the quarry.

The worst case scenario suggests lorry trips to and from the quarry could total up to 300 a day, although the council’s planning officers said it was more likely to be in the region of 232 trips

A dormant sand and gravel quarry will be brought back into operation after councillors approved its plans.

The Husbands Bosworth quarry shut down in November 2019, but will now be excavating again over an eight year period.

Despite more than 100 objections, Leicestershire County Council approved the plan to reopen the quarry at a development control meeting this week. The “overwhelming majority” of the concerns raised by residents of surrounding villages were over increased traffic on the roads.

Putting forward a motion to approve the scheme, Conservative councillor for Coalville South Keith Merrie said the county has a great need for sand and gravel to be used in construction projects, adding it was better to source it locally. Applicant Mick George Ltd will also install a concrete batch plant, which combines the minerals needed to make concrete, a mineral washing plant, and will bring the bagging plant back into use.

The A5199 Welford Road will bear the brunt of the additional traffic as the only access point to the quarry. The worst case scenario suggests trips to and from the quarry could total up to 300 a day, although the council’s planning officers said it is more likely to be in the region of 232 trips.

A quarter of these are expected to travel through the nearby Northamptonshire village of Welford, while the rest will travel northwards towards the A4304. Welford and Husbands Bosworth parish councils joined those raising concerns about the impact this could have on the roads and villages around the site.

But the county’s highways department said the additional traffic would be no worse than when the quarry last operated. Historic England also objected to the plan, saying it would harm the historic Bosworth Hall and Chapel of St Mary, although it accepted this harm would be “less than substantial”.

Owner of Bosworth Hall and the chapel Stephen Constable-Maxwell, whose great grandfather set up the park, told the meeting the money brought in by the quarry would be used to fund repairs to the historic building. The building is riddled with asbestos, he added, and its infrastructure, including the lead piping, is outdated.

He also hopes the restoration of the land once the digging has ceased will bring back turtle-doves and English partridges to the area. It was a chance “to do something amazing with this small piece of Leicestershire”, he said.

“I have a massive job to do to make that place safe and secure it for the next 150 years,” Mr Constable-Maxwell added. “I care an awful lot about this and it’s a great opportunities to return it to how it was when my great grandfather set up the park.”

A memorial which is currently located on land that is set to be dug into would have to be moved, plans suggest. The Wellington Bomber memorial, dedicated to those who died when an aircraft crashed in 1943, is described as having ‘historic value’. An agreement has been reached that would see it relocated.