11 May 2004 · Minister for Local Government and the Environment - By Order of the Minister (Chief Executive)
Billown Quarry Office, Foxdale Road, Ballasalla, Isle Of Man, IM9 3dw
Billown Lime Quarries Ltd proposed extending their existing 10.5ha limestone quarry by 2.2ha of adjacent agricultural land to extract 1.2 million tonnes over ~10 years, relocating processing plant to the upper yard, removing old plant, landscaping, and bunding for screening.
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The inspector found the extension necessary for Isle of Man private sector aggregate supply (1.2Mt reserves for ~10 years, replacing imports), with no alternative sources, outweighing amenity impacts …
Minerals Policy 1
Requires Environmental Impact Statement for mineral developments. ES provided per EU Directives/ Town and Country Planning Act 1999 S2; assessed compliant, forming basis of approval/conditions.
Time limit
The development hereby permitted shall commence before the expiration of four years from the date of this notice.
Approved plans
This approval relates to the extension of a limestone quarry and relocation of stone processing operations as shown on drawings 1, 2, 3a-d, 4, 5, 6a, 7, 7a-d, 8a-c, 9, 9a and 10 all submitted on 9th January 2004, and contained within the Planning and Environmental Statement received on the same date. The approval relates to such parts of the Planning and Environmental Statement as are not further detailed in these conditions, and to the Archaeological brief received on 28th January 2004.
Archaeology access
The Manx Museum and National Trust must be informed 14 days before the commencement of operations and given access at all times, and reasonable opportunity, to inspect the site, observe all excavations and investigate any archaeological features exposed.
Working hours
Working of the quarry, including the provision of machinery by staff shall be carried out only between 07.00 to 18.00 hours Mondays to Fridays, and 07.00 to 13.00 hours on Saturdays. Maintenance of plant may be carried out within these hours and between 07.00 to 16.30 hours on a Saturday, and between 08.00 and 16.30 hours on a Sunday. There shall be no working outside these hours unless otherwise approved in writing in advance by the Planning Authority.
Restoration scheme
Initial restoration shall be to the profile shown in Figure 4 of the Planning and Environmental statement except in so far as the scheme approved in response to this condition requires otherwise. Within six months of this approval being taken up, there must be submitted to the Planning Authority a planning application for a scheme of restoration of the site which has regard to the need to preserve access to future supplies of rock and, in regard to this, the applicant should consult the Department of Trade & Industry to determine the nature of this need; such scheme shall include - (a) details of the materials to be deposited; (b) a programme of works; (c) the profiles to be achieved at each stage; (d) the proposals for the control of impacts upon the environment and residential amenity; and (e) the final form and landscaping of the site (including maintenance and after-care).
Dust management
No development shall take place except in accordance with a scheme for the management of dust, which shall be in accordance with paragraph 10.5.2 of the Planning and Environmental Statement, unless otherwise approved in writing by the Planning Authority.
Blasting hours
No blasting shall be carried out on the site except between 10.00 and 16.00 hours Mondays to Fridays. There shall be no blasting on Saturdays, Sundays, Bank Holidays or National Holidays. This condition shall not apply in cases where the safety of personnel on the site or the public in the locality would be put at risk by prohibition of blasting operations. The Planning Authority shall be notified in writing immediately of the nature and circumstances of any such event.
Vibration limits
Ground vibration as a result of blasting operations shall not exceed a peak particle velocity of 6mms⁻¹ in 95% of all blasts measured over a 12 month period and no individual blast shall exceed a peak particle velocity of 12 mms⁻¹ as measured at vibration sensitive buildings. The measurements shall be taken at three mutually perpendicular directions taken at the ground surface of any vibration sensitive buildings.
Air overpressure methods
Within one month of the date of this notice details of the methods to limit air overpressure shall be submitted for the written approval of the Planning Authority. No blasting operation shall take place except in accordance with the approved methods, unless otherwise approved in writing by the Planning Authority.
Blasting monitoring scheme
Within one month of the date of this notice a scheme for the monitoring of blasting shall be submitted to the Planning Authority for written approval. No blasting operation shall take place except in accordance with the approved scheme, unless otherwise approved in writing by the Planning Authority.
Silencing equipment
All machinery used in connection with the operations hereby approved and any maintenance of the site shall be equipped with effective silencing equipment or sound proofing to the standard of design set out in the manufacturers' specification, and shall be maintained in accordance with that specification at all times throughout the development.
Reversing alarms
No audible reversing alarms shall be employed on any vehicle on the site except directional broad band multi frequency alarms, unless otherwise approved in writing by the Planning Authority.
Noise limits
Noise emitted from the site shall not exceed 55dBL Aeq(1 hour)(free field), when measured 1m from the façade of any noise sensitive property, except from the removal of soil, and construction or removal of landscape or baffle mounts, at which time noise from these activities shall not exceed 70dBL Aeq(1 hour)(free field) when measured 1m from the façade of any noise sensitive property.
No topsoil removal/waste
Except within the terms of condition 5, no topsoil shall be removed from the site, nor shall any waste be deposited within the site.
Bunding prior to extraction
No extraction shall take place within the extension hereby approved, unless the area is bunded in accordance with Figure 8c of the Planning and Environmental Statement.
No adverse traffic impacts subject to conditions
no objections
Multiple local residents submitted detailed objections to the quarry extension citing traffic safety, noise, dust, fumes, blasting damage, visual impact, and working hours; Manx National Heritage raised no objection subject to archaeological mitigation.
Manx National Heritage
Conditional No ObjectionMNH is able to state that this is an adequate and suitable form of mitigation for the purposes of safeguarding the cultural heritage affected by the proposals, and that it has no objection to the application on archaeological grounds.; Manx National Heritage has no objection to the land take for the quarry extension, since the area in question is an arable field under intensive farming, and therefore is of no significant wildlife interest.; We are very familiar with the existing extraction and processing sites. As a result we have no objection on visual grounds to the scheme as proposed.
Conditions requested: Archaeological brief supplied on 22nd January 2004 to be included as the substantive document for mitigation of archaeological impacts
The original application for quarry extension and processing relocation was submitted 8 January 2004 with an Environmental Statement, initially permitted by Planning Committee on 11 May 2004 and modified on review 29 July 2004. Local residents (appellants) challenged the permission via public inquiry, claiming inadequate conditions on traffic, noise, blasting, dust, need, hours and restoration. The quarry operator (Billown Lime Quarries Ltd) demonstrated economic need for private sector aggregates and compliance with environmental standards via ES and ISO certifications. The inspector found appellant concerns valid but manageable through revised conditions addressing noise, dust, blasting limits, hours, restoration planning and monitoring; balanced against strategic mineral supply needs. Appeal dismissed 30 March 2005 with permission granted subject to 15 new conditions.
Precedent Value
Demonstrates inspector prioritises evidenced compliance with technical standards (PAN50) and strategic mineral needs over resident amenity concerns when mitigable by conditions; future appeals must provide robust technical rebuttals and recognise planning limits on highway routing/restoration separation.
Inspector: David Ward BSc(Hons) CEng MICE FIHT
