Much Wenlock: Refusal for 100 lorries-a-day at Farley Quarry

Farley Quarry near Much Wenlock lies in the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

Plans for a 12-year operation to fill a quarry with construction waste have been rejected by councillors.

Shropshire councillors voted against officers' recommendations to approve the plans for Farley Quarry in Much Wenlock after hearing that 100 lorries would have visited the site each day.

Officers had said the work would lead to ecological enhancements and reconnect public walking routes.

A similar application for the site was refused last year.

Landscape architect Stephen Holford spoke against the plans, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"The proposed development would increase levels of noise, increase inappropriate development and affect the quality of the area significantly," he said.

Much Wenlock town councillor William Benbow said the recycling operation was not needed and argued the site could be filled with waste from elsewhere which would reduce traffic to the site by 70 per cent.

'Much needed facility'

The applicant's agent said the plans would provide a "much needed" facility and a "significant' biodiversity enhancement" for the presently unrestored quarry.

But councillors said the quarry's proximity to Much Wenlock meant the plan was not in accordance with the area's neighbourhood plan and would have a detrimental impact on the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Planning committee chairman David Evans raised his concerns about the development.

He said: "The proximity to the Medieval market town of Much Wenlock, it's within an Area of Outstanding National Beauty which I think pre-supposes any form of large-scale process.

"This is so close to Much Wenlock that I feel the Much Wenlock Neighbourhood Plan must take important precedence."