Quarry plans scrapped after 10-year battle

A controversial plan to create an industrial quarry on farmland in Devon has been shelved after 10 years of planning battles.

Aggregate Industries wanted to build a quarry on the 100-acre Straitgate Farm site on the edge of Ottery St Mary to extract more than a million tonnes of sand and gravel.

Local councillor Jess Bailey said it had been a "David and Goliath battle" with residents fighting the plans by a large company.

Aggregate Industries, which rebranded to become Holcim UK earlier in 2025, said there had been "a change in business strategy and direction".

The plans were refused by Devon County Council in December 2021 but an appeal to the Planning Inspector was successful in January 2023.

Bailey, independent member for Otter Valley, said it was "really quite unbelievable" that the plans advanced to the stage they reached.

She said: "It's been an absolutely epic struggle, it's gone on for years and years. It would have had a devastating impact on the local area.

"It's been a huge David and Goliath battle where local community activists were campaigning against a multinational quarry company.

"It's great news for our area and it's just a shame it took such a long time to get to this point."

Rupert Thistlethwayte is the owner of Cadhay House, an historic estate in Ottery St Mary.

He said the creation of the quarry could have harmed the water supply to medieval fishponds in the gardens of Cadhay House.

Responding to news of the plans being abandoned he said: "It's absolutely fantastic and a great credit to all the people who were part of the action group.

"To keep their energy going for that length of time is astonishing. There were all sorts of lows and keeping going through those lows requires people with grit."

Holcim UK said it had agreed to sell the Straitgate Farm site.

A spokesman for the firm said: "Following a change in business strategy and direction, which has included a review of the planned site, the company has decided not to proceed with quarrying at Straitgate.

"We have informed Devon County Council of this development and that we intend to allow the planning permission to lapse as a result."

The company said it recognised the local community would "welcome the clarity and certainty this will bring".

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