Groby quarry

December 2019

Could Groby super quarry be further postponed?

In the late 1870s two Birmingham businessmen opened a quarry at Cliffe Hill between Markfield and Stanton to provide street setts and kerb stones. This quarry closed in 1887 but was revived in 1889 by the son of one of the original owners. He equipped the quarry with then modern machinery and it quickly became a commercial success.

In 1983, Tarmac secured permission for New Cliffe Hill quarry and it was intended that operations to recover the reserves of 60 million tons from 'Old' Cliffe Hill would continue in the future. This has been facilitated by conveying aggregate via the 700 metre 'Joskin' Tunnel, dug in part by Cornish and Australian miners, to the New Cliffe Hill site.

Cliffe Hill Quarry extension?

Midland Quarry Products has already prepared an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and is likely to apply for planning permission next year for an extension which, if is approved, will allow them to continue quarrying for another 20 years, beyond the estimated 8 years needed to exhaust Cliffe Hill. This will involve them expanding eastwards, which will have an impact on farmland, highways and footpaths.

How does this affect Groby?

Plans for a Groby super-quarry have been put on hold until nearby quarries have been exhausted, so no development has been expected for perhaps 10 years. If this application is successful it could be 20 years before extraction resumes in Groby. Perversely not so good news for Markfield and Stanton could be good news for the residents of Groby, but no response or acknowledgement has yet been received from MQP to an enquiry about the potential impact on quarrying in Groby.

However Groby Borough Councillor Martin Cartwright, Chair of the Cliffe Hill Quarry Liaison said : “Groby quarry has not been mentioned in any of the meetings I have attended recently in respect of the proposals to extend Cliffe Hill Quarry but it has always been general knowledge that Groby Quarry is unlikely to brought back into full use until the reserves at Cliffe Hill are exhausted.

“Whilst MQP plans are in the very early stage of completion they have given commitment to keep the affected landowners, neighbouring residents and surrounding communities fully informed. Following discussions at the meeting held on the 13th November the Authority has issued its scoping opinion on the proposal for an eastern extension to Old Cliffe Hill Quarry. The document, and further information, is now available to view on the MQP web site which can be found at https://www.mqp.co.uk/en/cliffe-hill-planning-application.

“The next stage is a full planning application that could happen as soon as Spring 2020.”

March 2013

Whatever happened to the quarry proposals?

Twenty years ago ARC, in consultation with the Groby Quarry Liaison Committee and a Working Party of the County Council, began to look at an alternative to the old quarrying permissions they held which would provide greater environmental safeguards for local people. Two years later they submitted a planning application which proposed as an alternative to the existing quarrying permissions and offered what they considered a much more acceptable alternative with significantly reduced environmental impact.. In July 1995 they staged a series of public information days at Groby Pool car park to provide information about their proposals. Many local residents attended but few will probably have retained the information they made available. One local resident did, however, and has asked 'whatever happened to the quarry proposals?'

The plan was to extract 13.5 million tonnes of stone from Groby Quarry and s 76.5 million tonnes of stone from land at Bradgate-Lawnwood Quarry. Processing would be carried out in a below-ground level plant located within the Groby Quarry hole. Stone from Bradgate-Lawnwood Quarry would be transported to Groby Quarry by conveyor through an underground tunnel connecting the two sites. Access to the A50 would be along an upgraded section of Newtown Linford Lane from a new Groby Quarry site access. For about the first 8 years of the project operations would be confined to Groby Quarry. A low-level plant site area would be prepared within the quarry hole and perimeter screening mounds constructed on the south east and south west sides of the Quarry. A new 3 million tonne a year processing plant would be constructed below surrounding ground level. Provision would also be made for a temporary above ground stocking area.

Phase 1

Following the commissioning of the new processing plant the first 6 years production quarrying would take place in Groby Quarry. Towards the end of stone extraction from Groby Quarry development would commence in Bradgate-Lawnwood Quarry with the construction of a permanent screening mound south of the present landfill site at Bradgate. A new stone extraction area would be established at Bradgate-Lawnwood Quarry and a 900 metre long underground tunnel constructed between Bradgate-Lawnwood and Groby Quarries. Twin conveyors would be installed in the tunnel to enable production quarrying to transfer to Bradgate-Lawnwood Quarry.

Phase 2

During the first 2 years of production quarrying within Bradgate-Lawnwood Quarry overburden would be stripped and transported via the conveyor tunnel for disposal in the Groby Quarry hole to create a permanent below-ground level stocking area. Stone would also be transported at the same time through the tunnel for processing at the Groby Quarry plant.

Phase 3

Stone extraction would proceed within Bradgate-Lawnwood Quarry until exhaustion of the southern half of that area was approached. A second extraction operation would then be established in the northern part of the area with initial overburden taken from the northern area being placed in the exhausted southern end of the quarry. This point would be reached approximately 7 years from the start of production quarrying in Bradgate-Lawnwood Quarry.

Phase 4

Operations in the northern working area would involve both overburden stripping and stone extraction for about the first 4 years. Overburden would be hauled to the worked out southern end of the quarry for backfilling below ground level, while stone would be transported by conveyor to Groby Quarry for processing. Following completion of overburden stripping stone extraction would continue until the quarry reached its final depth. It was expected that output would have increased from an initial 1.4 million tonnes per annum in 1999 to full production of 3 million tonnes by around 2006.

Access and Traffic

A new improved site access to Groby Quarry would be constructed some 250 metres closer to the A50 than the present access onto Newtown Linford Lane. The new access would provide better visibility than the existing access and would include a right turning lane to accommodate traffic turning into the site. The existing site access onto Newtown Linford Lane which is opposite Groby Pool would be closed.

It was also proposed to widen the existing road and footpath on Newtown Linford Lane between the new access and the A50 and provide road lighting. All finished quarry product would leave the site by this new access.

The existing access on the A50 at Field Head currently serving the Bradgate landfill site would be retained only as a service access for materials and equipment and personnel gaining access to the Bradgate Lawnwood Quarry. Finished quarry products would not leave the site by this access.

The average total one way flow of lorries from the site was estimated at 561 per day or 1122 movements per day. It is anticipated that 67% of this traffic would be south bound for the Ml, via the A50 south of Newtown Linford Lane.

Implementation of the new planning permission granted to ARC (now known as Hanson Quarry Products) was deferred due to the formation of Midland Quarry Products Limited (“MQP”) in 1996 as a joint venture Company between the Tarmac and ARC groups, and concentration of quarrying activities at Tarmac’s Cliffe Hill Quarry, now operated by MQP. Since that time, the only activities at Groby Quarry have been the asphalt plant and aggregate recycling operated by MQP and the concrete plant operated by ARC/Hanson, although the quarrying planning permission remains.

This will change.

“Groby Quarry is destined to become MQP’s main source of stone on exhaustion of Cliffe Hill Quarry which currently has reserves for – dependant on market conditions – 10 to 15 years,” explained a spokesperson. “During that period, the permitted working scheme for Groby Quarry, and the nearby Bradgate Quarry, will be fully reviewed by MQP to accommodate modern quarrying techniques and processing plant etc. and to reflect current market requirements. There will be a significant handover period when both quarries are in production as Groby Quarry is developed to full capacity and operations at Cliffe Hill wind down, but the total output will continue to be constrained by market requirements.”

Any significant changes to the permitted scheme are likely to need planning permission, and the company intends that these changes will be the subject of full consultation with the residents of Groby, through the Groby Quarry Liaison Committee, Groby Parish Council and directly with local residents.

Even the best laid plans are subject to change or, as in this case, postponement to a future date.