Runners, walkers and spectators braved the early morning chill and heavy rain on Sunday to take part in the Bengeo Field Fun Run. The event was organised by Stop Bengeo Quarry (SBQ) campaigners to demonstrate the community’s unwavering determination and support for Hertfordshire County Council’s (HCC) decision to refuse planning permission for an urban quarry within Hertford Town Council’s boundary.
The Public Inquiry, to consider the appeal by the applicant, against HCC Development Control Committee’s unanimous decision on 22nd March 2017, to refuse planning permission for a quarry at Bengeo, was adjourned earlier this year in controversial circumstances. The Planning Inspector adjourned the Public Inquiry on 18th May to enable campaigners time to obtain expert health advice. During the already extended Inquiry in May, members of the public questioned the applicant’s health expert about their claim that the proposed quarry would have no health impact on children attending Bengeo Primary School, or on vulnerable members of the public living in nearby homes, or on the safety of motorists using the busy Wadesmill Road.
As reported by The Mercury at the time, the Planning Inspector ruled on 18th May, that the late submission by the applicant of their 95 page Health Impact Assessment had materially prejudiced Stop Bengeo Quarry’s case. Since then, campaigners have raised £10,000 through a series of appeals and initiatives like this Fun Run, to help fund the next stage of their legal battle against the applicants, in support of the council’s previous decisions to refuse two successive applications (22nd March 2017 and 26th April 2018).
The Public Inquiry is due to reconvene at County Hall 23rd-25th October. SBQ campaigners are appealing for a high turnout of people living and working in and around Hertford, who are increasingly concerned about the risks and potential health impacts of Bengeo Quarry. When the Public Inquiry concludes, the Planning Inspector will write a report and make a recommendation based on his findings to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, James Brokenshire. The Secretary of State will then make the final decision, either to uphold Hertfordshire County Council’s refusal, or to over-rule the Council’s two previous decisions and allow the quarry to go ahead.
Aska Wisniewska-Pickering, said on behalf of Stop Bengeo Quarry “We have won every key stage of this marathon battle on behalf of the whole community, to preserve Hertford’s open, rolling countryside and protect the health and wellbeing of children and other vulnerable residents from a gravel pit in close proximity to a Primary School, play area and people’s homes. A quarry in this location poses numerous unacceptable risks including; up to one hundred additional lorry movements during busy times of the day onto a hazardous section of the B158; detrimental impact on air quality, and a serious risk to Hertford’s water source. Many of Hertford’s residents are still unaware that 6 million litres of their fresh drinking water are pumped every day from the chalk aquifer underlying Bengeo Field, via two nearby boreholes. The quarry would also disrupt use of a footpath and bridleway that has been in public use for hundreds of years. This Public Right of Way provides the only safe pedestrian, cycle and equestrian access from Hertford to Chapmore End and the rural communities to the north of town.”