MINERS are set to be given the go-ahead to continue digging for minerals at East Burnham Quarry. 

Permission to carry out the work is due to expire on December 31, 2020 but planning applicants have asked for consent to carry on digging for another four years up to December 2024. 

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Mining chiefs are also asking for the all-clear to keep their equipment and machinery on-site until December 2025, rather than the current expiry date of December 2021. 

Development bosses at Buckinghamshire Council have recommended the proposal is approved despite widespread concerns from the community. 

More than a dozen objections were received from neighbours worried about: 

  • More potholes on roads from vehicle movements to and from the site
  • The length of the extension
  • The impact of air and dust pollution on residents’ health
  • More noise coming from the site

Burnham Parish Council (BPC) also laid out its concerns in an objection letter to Buckinghamshire Council. 

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BPC’s fears were much the same as neighbours’, with particular concerns highlighted around the “excessive” extension ‘compounding’ the “adverse effects” of the work. 

But Buckinghamshire Council’s environmental health officer did not oppose the extension, despite pushing for a noise management plan to be included in the application. 

Slough Borough Council did not object to the proposal. 

A report from a Buckinghamshire Council officer read: “It is considered that the longevity has been justified by the applicant.

“Impacts upon amenity have been considered from a planning perspective and therefore, subject to the comments of the Environmental Health Officer and to the varied and additional noise conditions proposed, it is considered that the application would not result in an unacceptable impact.”

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The site is around 230 metres from Burnham Beeches, which is an area of special scientific interest, and also lies within the green belt, but officers say this work will not impact the openness of the countryside. 

Councillors are set to approve the proposal at a virtual meeting of the strategic sites committee on Thursday, June 11.