Quarry threat to Lincolnshire footpath

We have objected to plans by Breedon Aggregates to extend South Witham quarry in south Lincolnshire and destroy the route of a much-loved public footpath.

The threatened footpath in springtime looking north.

The path runs between the villages of South Witham and Thistleton and is on the edge of the proposed quarry extension.  The developers want to move the path around three sides of a field, instead of on its direct inter-village route, and walkers will also suffer from the eyesore of the expanding quarry and the noise, smell and dust of the workings.

The society has sent a strong objection to Lincolnshire County Council which is considering the application.

This application will devastate the public footpath adjoining the site, and people’s enjoyment of it.  The footpath is not even within the application site yet it is to be rerouted onto a circuitous, unpleasant route, taking people away from their direction of travel and forcing them to trudge around three sides of a field.

The applicant admits that there will be an adverse effect on public enjoyment, with a loss of visual amenity and the generation of noise and dust.  We do not consider that the proposed mitigation will address these major problems.  People will have to walk significantly further, around three sides of a field instead of one; they will be subjected to the visual intrusion of the quarry workings as well as the noise, smell and dust emanating from them and their surroundings will be altered for ever.

This is a popular direct footpath, an old way between South Witham and Thistleton, bordered with mature trees and hedgerows; it is much loved and used by local people.  Trees will be felled and the whole environment irrevocably altered.  Breedon Aggregates should find a way to protect the path and its surroundings, perhaps with a bridge or tunnel, to ensure that the landscape and people’s enjoyment of it are protected.

We have urged the council to reject this application.