PUBLIC pressure played a part in persuading Farley Estate bosses to shelve controversial quarry plans in Arborfield.

Together with construction company Cemex, the estate decided not to appeal Wokingham Borough Council’s (WBC) decision to refuse a proposal to mine 3.6 million tonnes of sand and gravel at the Arborfield site.

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The proposal had been in the pipeline for more than 20 years and had attracted huge opposition from neighbours.

Bracknell News:

When asked if public pressure had played a part in the decision not to pursue an appeal, Natalie Gaibani, Chief Operating Officer at Farley Estate, told the News: “We were not aware there would be a public backlash because it is quite a tucked-away site.

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“We were quite surprised by it.

“We are hoping to be here for a long time and we don’t want to be here with a community that doesn’t support what we are doing.”

Bracknell News:

A planning application for the work, which would have seen a concrete plant set up at the site, was submitted in February 2017.

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Writing in the July edition of the Swallowfield Parish Newsletter, Ms Gaibani suggested WBC planning committee members chiefs could make a decision on the plans in September 2019.

Bracknell News:

But the proposal was refused in August 2017 as experts were worried about potential harm to the environment and a lack of information demonstrating the development would not increase flood risk and would not harm wildlife or habitats.

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Ms Gaibani said time was the big factor in not pressing ahead with an appeal.

“We thought it would be well underway by now”, she told the News.

“It has gone on a lot longer than we thought it would.

Bracknell News:

“A lot of things have changed.

“There has been a lot of development in our area and we are not really sure we want to spend the next fifteen years at Farley with mineral extraction still going on.”

Bosses at Farley Estate have plans for what is to come at the site now the Bridge Farm proposal has been shelved.

Ms Gaibani said the estate was in talks with a solar company about setting up a solar farm, as this was something that was “coming back into affordability and is environmentally friendly.”

She added: “We don’t want to do anything to upset the community unless we absolutely have to, if it was our only option.

“But we feel there are now other opportunities which have come to the fore.”