Controversial plans to reopen a quarry in Newcastle-under-Lyme are set to be approved.

The Old Red Developments Ltd's proposal to restart the extraction of clay at Bradwell West Quarry, in Newcastle, has been recommended for approval, despite concerns from residents – and a former director of the company being jailed for waste offences earlier this year.

Under the plans, around 150,000 tonnes of Etruria marl a year would be quarried from the six hectare site, which lies next to Bradwell Wood and the A500. Once the extraction has been completed – potentially after seven years – the land would be restored with 'inert' materials such as construction and demolition waste. Up to 160 HGV movements – 80 in and 80 out – would take place each day.

Before the application was submitted, 37 out of 40 residents who responded to a consultation said they were against the plans, raising concerns over air quality, restoration and transport issues – with a 'significant number' fearing similar odour issues to those experienced at Walleys Quarry landfill site, in Silverdale. Staffordshire County Council later received three letters of objection to the application.

And in April, Joe Frizell – a former director of The Old Red Developments – was jailed for two years for his part in an illegal waste operation at Bonnie Braes Farm, in Bignall End. The 48-year-old, of Crewe Road, Shavington, resigned from the company on April 2 – the day he was sentenced – after he was disqualified from being a director for six years.

The six hectare site lies next to Bradwell Wood and the A500 (Google Maps).

But officers at the county council have recommended the application for approval, saying that it 'accords with the development plan and as such represents sustainable development'. Members of the planning committee will consider the application when they meet on Thursday, August 1.

Clay extracted from the site will be used in the brickmaking industry, and the application has received backing from manufacturers, who say that suitable Etruria marl is in short supply nationally. They include Forterra, the operator of the Wilnecote Works in Tamworth, which is set to be supplied from the quarry from 2025.

In response to the concerns raised by residents, planning officers say any issues can be 'satisfactorily mitigated' and that conditions can be imposed 'to safeguard local amenity, highway safety and biodiversity interests'. And the officers say that the issues experienced at Walleys Quarry will not occur at Bradwell West, noting that no objections have been received from environmental health officers at Newcastle Borough Council or the Environment Agency.

The report states: "An important distinction between the proposals at the applications site compared with those at Walleys Quarry is that the type of fill material to be used as backfill, which at the application site would be restricted to inert materials thereby reducing the risk of pollution, odour, or pests.

"No waste would be imported to the application site until an environmental permit is secured and such a permit would control the types of waste that can be accepted, how waste acceptance is managed, and procedures for dealing with waste that arrives at the site."

The illegal waste operation at Bonnie Braes Farm saw at least 100,000 tonnes dumped between March 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015, which raised the level of the ground by up to seven metres. Joe Frizell and TW Frizell were among five people and three companies sentenced for their involvement in the operation at Shrewsbury Crown Court. TW Frizell was fined £1 as the company is in liquidation.

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READ MORE: Plans for new shop and flats on a Stoke-on-Trent high street scrapped

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