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Wootton Quarry Application Delayed Over Site Access Concerns

Plans to submit an application for a gravel quarry in Wootton have been delayed until the new year.

Residents have raised concerns over access to the proposed site, off Palmers Farm.

Island company Wight Building Materials (WBM) is seeking permission to extract material to ensure it can continue to supply materials to the local construction industry. 

The firm says a successful application would also protect around 40 jobs at WBM, as well as reduce the need to import sea-dredged construction materials from the mainland.

A series of public meetings have taken place, attended by representatives from the company.

One issue identified has been how lorries access and exit the site and it is this area that Wight Building Materials is now looking at in particular.

Steve Burton, Wight Building Materials general manager said:

“We have said all along that we are keen to work closely with the community in developing this plan and this remains the case.

“The issue of access is clearly a matter of concern to residents near the site and we are looking at all options to, if possible, arrive at a plan that addresses these reservations.

“This process is a thorough one and as a result we are now looking to submit our application early in the new year, probably February, rather than this month as initially planned.”

Proposals would see sand and gravel extracted from the Wootton site in four phases over around ten years with each phase being re-instated before work begins on the next.

WBM says the entire site will be returned to nature at the end of the extraction in an agreed plan that will leave behind a more biodiverse habitat than at present.

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