Residents delighted at refusal of opencast plan



AN application to opencast land in between Smalley, Heanor and Mapperley, has been refused by Amber Valley Borough Council.




UK Coal applied to excavate 1,000,000 tonnes of material from the 64 hectare (158 acre) Lodge House site.
This work would take place over a four and a half year period.
The application was refused at Amber Valley Borough Council's planning meeting on Monday October 13. However, the final decision on the proposal rests with Derbyshire County Council.
The planning application noted that two-kilometres of hedgerow would be lost and Prospect Farm, a known bat roost, would be demolished.
UK Coal proposed to lighten the environmental impact by creating a new bat cote, re-planting five-kilometres of hedgerow, planting 9.6 hectares of indigenous broad leaved woodland and 12 hectares of rich grassland.
UK Coal believed the proposal would create new rights of way and would improve post-war land quality.
They also proposed to create a Local Trust Fund to provide additional environmental and community benefits.
This Trust Fund would generate approximately £100,000 by the end of the coal working.
Despite these proposed benefits, Amber Valley Borough Council's planning officer stated: "It is considered that the benefits would not outweigh the disbenefits."
He recommended that Derbyshire County Council should be informed that Amber Valley Borough Council object to the proposal.
Members of Smalley Action Group attended the meeting and staged a small protest outside the council offices.
Neil Paget of the action group said: "We are very delighted that this application has been objected by the borough council."




17 October 2003

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