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As hopefully you have heard by now, the Secretary of State has endorsed the recommendations of the Planning Inspector, who conducted the public inquiry last year into the Bengeo quarry appeal. This means that the Secretary of State has refused permission to quarry in Bengeo Field, quoting the risk of ground water pollution, the landscape, air pollution and noise levels among the reasons. We are, of course, delighted with the outcome - especially as it is clear that the points raised by the Stop Bengeo Quarry group were recognised by the inspector and mentioned in his report. This means that although HCC were not in a position to object to the proposed quarry on the basis of hydrology, the Secretary of State concluded that the risk is unacceptable and would have an unacceptable adverse impact on the natural environment. Additionally, it was also recognised that "the local fear and anxiety about short- and long-term health risks" are "legitimate" and "not...

We are delighted to hear that Minister for Housing, Communities & Local Government, James Brokenshire, has accepted The Inspector's recommendation to dismiss RJD & Gowling's appeal against the council's refusal of planning permission for Bengeo Quarry. We will be issuing a formal reaction later but in the meantime you can find more details on Discover Hertford Online. » Read report...

Our petition against the Rickneys Extention is still available online and we would encourage everyone to sign it. We expect a final decision to be made by the County Council at the end of March. In thge meantime we continue to campaign against quarrying in Bengeo. » Sign our petition The petition is active until 24th January 2019....

Hanson have submitted a planning application to re-open the old quarry south of Chapmore End. The abandoned site is immediately north of St.John's Wood and Bengeo Field. The site access road joins the B158 Wadesmill Road around 600 metres north of the proposed access road for the Bengeo Field quarry. The Rickneys site closed in 2001 but Hanson have in the past submitted further applications to extend the operation, the most recent being in 2013 when they asked to extend the timeframe to 2017. This application was approved by the County Council but no formal Planning Decision was issued after a failure to agree Section 106 conditions associated with the plan. Hanson have now amended this planning application, changing the date to 31st December 2021. At the Public Inquiry in to the proposed Bengeo Field quarry, the applicant (Ingrebourne) made it clear they have negotiated with Hanson to use the existing access road for Rickneys, thereby overcoming any highways issues regarding the earlier...

The final day of the public enquiry at County Hall heard the closing statement from the parties involved in the enquiry. For The Campaign, barrister Katharine Elliot gave a strong case outlining the reasons why the proposal is not acceptable on the grounds of the contamination risk to the chalk aquifer and air-quality related health impacts. The conclusions are: It is agreed between the parties that the proposed development could have an unacceptable adverse impact on the chalk aquifer and consequently the public water supply at the Wadesmill Rd PWS. The proposed development can therefore not be permitted unless the Appellants can demonstrate that appropriate measures can be imposed to mitigate that impact. The mitigation measures proposed by the Appellants are wholly insufficient to mitigate the serious potential impact of pollution on the Chalk aquifer. Planning permission for the proposed development – whether the original or the amended scheme – should therefore be refused. As to air quality, the Health Impact Assessment...