Haddiscoe campaigners battle plans for new quarry site

Installed along the A143 in Haddiscoe, the new sign shows piles of rubble and waste in response to ongoing planning applications for a new quarry and landfill site.

While the sign, which reads 'Welcome to Haddiscoe 2028', was installed by a private resident and not affiliated with the campaign group StopIt2, its sentiment mirrors the concerns of many of the locals.

The dystopia sign reading 'Welcome to Haddiscoe' is visible from the A143 alongside a StopIt2 campaign poster. (Image: James Weeds)Members of the campaign group met with South Norfolk Conservative candidate Poppy Simister-Thomas to share their concerns and to show how close the prospective sites are to many of the village's key areas.

Currently, Breedon Trading's application to open a 52-acre quarry - roughly 26 football pitches - on Crab Apple Lane is in the hands of Norfolk County Council. 

Breedon is a supplier of concrete and cement and operates 350 sites in the UK. The quarry would be used to extract gravel for local construction projects, including housing in Great Yarmouth.  

South Norfolk Tory candidate Poppy Simister-Thomas (left) with StopIt2 campaigners Ollie Beatwell, Marcus Aldren and Daryl Packer by the Wiggs Road site. (Image: James Weeds)Another application, to use the former Wiggs Road quarry as an inert landfill site, was withdrawn last year. However, locals fear another application will be submitted soon.

Villagers have set up the StopIt2 campaign – which represents around 80pc of the community – to halt the plans.

Haddiscoe campaigners showed Poppy Simister-Thomas the prospective site of the Crab Apple Lane quarry on Friday. (Image: James Weeds)Campaigner Ollie Beatwell moved to the village in 2020 with his wife and two young sons. The Beatwells are concerned about the effect fine dust particles caused by excavations at the Crab Apple Lane quarry could have on their five-year-old son's asthma.

"It is a worry," Mr Beatwell said.

"We moved here in the hope of some fresh air and tranquillity. It's the best place to raise a family.

"But that would no longer be the case with a quarry open on top of the hill."

Tory candidate Poppy Simister-Thomas (centre), with campaigners Sari Kelsey (left), Ollie Beatwell, Daryl Packer and Marcus Aldren at Crab Apple Lane. (Image: James Weeds)Another feared casualty of the Crab Apple Lane pit is the nearby Grade I-listed St Mary's Church. The campaigners said the church was still an integral part of village life and in use for religious services, including christenings, weddings and funerals, and remains a popular place for tranquillity and quiet reflection.

Haddiscoe's Grade I-listed St Mary's Church features an 11th-century circular tower. (Image: James Weeds)Parish councillor and StopIt2 member Sari Kelsey said: "We just cannot tolerate the thought of marrying, burying your loved ones or baptising your young to the sound of gravel being mined."

Daryl Packer, a former mining engineer and member of StopIt2, said the church, with its distinctive 11th-century flint round tower, was part of a "set of nine" in the area.

Stop It 2 member Daryl Packer. (Image: James Weeds)"So if that does get damaged - which would be a tragedy in its own right - the whole set will be impacted," Mr Packer said.

While St Mary's Church is no longer open all the time, campaigners have said it still remains a prominent place for ceremonies in Haddiscoe. (Image: James Weeds)The campaigners assured Mrs Simister-Thomas they were not against quarrying, but with the village's history of providing gravel and the prospective consequences on heritage sites, traffic and air quality, they were adamant about the village being left alone. Member Marcus Aldren believes there "are far more suitable sites in the area" further away from people's homes.

"Haddiscoe has done its bit," Mr Aldren said.

"And there needs to be more done to find suitable areas with the minerals required."

Stop It 2 member Marcus Aldren. (Image: James Weeds)Following the visit, the South Norfolk Conservative candidate said MPs cannot intervene in specific planning applications. 

"But it was really valuable to hear the villagers’ concerns, which come on the back of successive applications for the same sites," Mrs Simister-Thomas added.

South Norfolk Conservative candidate Poppy Simister-Thomas in Haddiscoe. (Image: James Weeds)"I’ll work closely with the councillors to make sure the community’s concerns are being represented."

A spokeswoman for the Breedon Group said the firm was not able to provide a comment at this stage of the process.