Council cements Passenham position

11.11.28pm GMT Sun 26th Jun 2005

After a public Minerals Local Plan Inquiry held in October 2004, the Inspector considered there would not be enough extraction sites for sand and gravel in Milton Keynes to meet government guidelines.

Although the Manor Farm and Caldecote Farm sites are still available, the Inspector said that the Council must allocate a further site to be worked before 2007, and recommended that the Passenham site should be worked between 2006 and 2011.

A planning application for Passenham was dismissed on appeal in August 2004 on the grounds that it did not make satisfactory proposals for restoration. But a revised and improved application was submitted and the Council's Development Control Committee granted planning permission at its meeting on 15 June.The Liberal Democrat cabinet has therefore reluctantly accepted that the Passenham site will be worked.

Councillor Graham Mabbutt, cabinet member for strategic planning, said: "We are sad that this decision had to be made. None of us want to see gravel extraction in the Milton Keynes area, but unfortunately it is forced upon us by central government quotas."