Plans submitted to restore Field House Quarry, complete with wildlife areas

Sunderland City Council’s planning department has received an application for Field House Quarry near Houghton.

According to planning documents submitted to the local authority, the quarry was once a “source of quality permian sand overlain by magnesium limestone rock”.

However, it was noted that extraction operations at the site stopped decades ago and that the quarry void has not been fully restored since, despite “continuing operations concentrating on restoration works”.

Works to restore the quarry have included the import of inert materials such as clays and soils under a permit issued by the Environment Agency, which are processed and sorted for recycling and then used to infill the quarry void.

A new planning application is seeking permission for a long-term project to restore the land to make it suitable for wildlife once again.

Planning documents state that the restoration of the quarry void was expected to be completed by 2015 but that operations had slowed due to a “change in local and national government policy, which has placed great emphasis on the recycling of waste”.

New plans aim to “regularise the existing situation in relation to worksto restore the quarry” and to “construct a new vehicular access to the north of the site”.

A planning statement submitted to council officials said the aim of the project is to “restore the quarry to its original land profile and therefore return Houghton Scarp, with its associated designated wildlife areas, to its original appearance”.

This includes “infilling the void and raising the contours of the land in order that they fit in with, and reflect, the surrounding landform”.

The planning statement adds: “This will be achieved by importing and landfilling inert waste.

“In addition, in line with local and national government policy, the imported waste materials are recycled, using a screener, to remove materials that can be used as a secondary aggregate particular, concrete, bricks and gravels.

“The residual material, which tends to consist of soils and silts, will then be used to restore the void.

“The restored material will then be finished with an appropriate growing medium and planted and seeded to finish the restoration scheme”.

Council planning documents state the project will take around 15 years to complete, and will take place in phases.

This includes a “site set-up phase” to construct a new access road, followed by three main phases of tipping and restoration.

Restoration works at the quarry site range from “lowland calcareous grassland” to “open mosaic habitat”, which includes patches of dense vegetation, and would be introduced across the land as the works progress.

An additional phase of restoration would also include the creation of a “sand martin nest bank and pond to the southern perimeter of the quarry” and the erection of bird and bat boxes.

Those behind the scheme state they intend to cease the existing vehicular access to the quarry “which currently goes through a nearbyhousing estate” and to replace it with a new route from the north.

It was noted that the lorry route would be “from the top north-western corner of the quarry void, through fields to the north of the site, and it will join Burdon Lane to the north via a new junction”.

Applicants said no site operations would take place on Sundays, public or bank holidays, except in the case of an emergency, and that operating hours would be 7am to 6pm, Monday to Friday and 7am to 1pm on Saturdays.

Those behind the scheme confirmed operational hours would “include all activities on the site including the ingress and egress of HGVs, recycling activities, and landfilling and restoration activities”.

Subject to planning permission being granted, all vehicles importing and exporting waste would use the new vehicular access to the north, and “no HGV or wagon will use the existing access to the south of the site via Field House Farm”, according to applicants.

It is also estimated that the total number of vehicles using the site to “bring in imported material” would be “30 HGVs a day Monday to Friday and 15 HGVs on a Saturday”.

However, planning documents state that “good housekeeping practice, already undertaken at the site” would be used to prevent “mud and debris” from being deposited on public roads and areas outside the site.

The planning statement adds: “The restoration scheme itself is aimed at reflecting the contours of the surrounding land and returning it to how it was originally.

“Any impact on the openness of the Green Belt will be temporary and contained by the quarry phasing and the nature of the surrounding landscape.

“Overall, it is considered that the proposed restoration of Field House Quarry will preserve the openness of the Green Belt both in the short term during the operations and in the long term following the completion of the works”.

The council’s planning portal website lists the applicant as A. McCall And Sons (Houghton Le Spring) Limited, and the submitted planning statement notes applicants also own Field House Farm.

A decision on the planning application will be made once a period of council consultation has concluded.

Sunderland City Council’s planning portal website lists a decision deadline of September 20, 2024.

For more information on the planning application or to track its progress, visit the council’s planning portal website and search reference: 24/01217/MAW