PLANS to reopen a quarry on the Somerset Levels have been refused for a second time over water contamination concerns.

Henry Ford applied to reopen the former Batts Lane Quarry, which lies off the busy A372 near Long Sutton, with the intention of quarrying 30,000 tonnes of stone over a 15-year period.

Somerset County Council first refused the plans in June 2019, arguing the former quarry’s proximity to a landfill site could lead to local water sources being contaminated.

The council has now refused plans for a second time, arguing Mr Ford had not done enough to ease its concerns about the site.

The plans were discussed by the council’s regulation committee when it met in Taunton on Thursday (June 24).

Mr Ford intended to extract around 3,000 tonnes of blue lias stone from the site each year, with the quarry being open for a maximum of 15 years before being closed again and the land being restored.

He promised that extraction would take place above the water table to prevent either quarrying material or elements of the former landfill site from contaminating the local water supply.

Despite this reassurance, numerous residents urged the committee to refuse permission on the basis of how little information was known about the nearby landfill site.

Somerset County Gazette: The Batts Lane Quarry Site In Long Sutton. CREDIT: Somerset County Council. Free to use for all BBC wire partners.

Lisa Newby, clerk of Long Sutton Parish Council, said reopening the quarry “offers no benefit to the community” and said the noise from lorries “would have a detrimental impact” on the well-being of those living near the site.

She added: “The environmental impact is too extreme when measured against the creation of just two jobs.”

Geoff Pringle, secretary of the Stop the Batts Lane Quarry Action Group, said the plans had received 154 letters of objection from local residents – with only one letter being in support.

He said: “The situation on the ground has fundamentally changed since the last application, as a holiday let business directly to the east of the site has been allowed to expand, adding three units for 30 additional guests.

“Surely Somerset tourism cannot be put at risk? The planned expansion may be shelved should the quarry be approved, as high-end tourists will not be attracted to the constant noise, disturbance and potentially carcinogenic dust this quarry will create.

“Neither blue nor white lias are currently seen as being in short supplies. Other quarries have significantly reserves.”

Neil Burrows, who lives at the grade two listed Upton Cross, added: “This is adjacent to an historic, unregulated landfill.

“The landfill site contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), heavy metals and asbestos. The toxicity of PAHs is well-known to cause cancer.”

Councillor Dean Ruddle, whose Somerton division includes the site, said he was deeply uncomfortable with approving the plans, given his expertise in waste management and how landfill sites should be handled.

He explained: “I come from a landfill site background, and groundwater contamination is a massive worry.

“Landfill sites are usually designed around clay and geomembranes, not natural stone like this. This landfill site was not approved – you didn’t need planning permission in those days, and there’s no record as to what went in it.

“The worst thing you can do with landfill sites is to disturb them. There’s no way you can assure yourself that you’re not going to contaminate the water supply – and then you’re in really big trouble.”

Councillor Mike Caswell added: “Why do we need more blue lias [being extracted here]? I live out near Hinkley Point, I put my spade in the ground and I find blue lias – it’s everywhere in the county.

“This will have a detrimental effect on the holiday lets business. I’m not happy with this at all.”

The committee voted to refuse the plans for a second time by a margin of five votes to three.