Project to turn quarry into wetlands is delayed

The process of transforming the land into a nature reserve has a deadline of 2030

A project to create one of the UK's biggest wetland habitats at a quarry site could take eight years longer than planned.

Brice Aggregates, which operates Needingworth Quarry in Cambridgeshire, has asked for more time to excavate sand and gravel from the site.

The current planning permission for the quarry requires the site to be turned into a wetland habitat by 2030, which the company has asked to be extended to 2038.

Under proposals submitted to Cambridgeshire County Council, the company said "temporary market restrictions" had led to delays.

Brice Aggregates, which took over the quarry in May 2024, is gradually handing the restored wetland over to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).

The works to expand RSPB Ouse Fen nature reserve north of Cambridge have been going since 2001 and seen the area transform into a habitat for species such as otters, bitterns, marsh harriers and bearded tits.

Brice Aggregates said it needed an additional six years to excavate the remaining sand and gravel, with a "sufficient period" also needed to restore the site.

It said there were a "host of legitimate reasons" as to why the project now needed more time after nearly 25 years.

"Notable, though not exclusively, during the austerity years of the late 2000s and Covid periods.

"The proposed extension to 2038 will allow for the necessary completion of all sand and gravel recovery from within the permitted site and facilitate the carrying out of the full site restoration."

The county council will now consider the application and make a decision on whether the extension can be granted.