Tiny village with a population of just 500 people WINS David v Goliath battle over 52-acre quarry as councillors reject plans against officers' advice

A tiny village has won a David and Goliath battle against a developer over plans for a quarry they argued would have destroyed their way of life.

The proposal was to excavate a 52-acre site – the size of 26 football pitches – that would sit just 160 ft away from some houses in Haddiscoe, Norfolk.

Other buildings threatened by dust belching from the site, as well as noise and traffic from lorries, included a Grade I-listed church, St Mary's, ancient farmhouses and the war memorial in the historic village, which has 500 residents.

But the application by FTSE 250 construction firm Breedon has been rejected unanimously by members of the county councils planning committee, against the advice of planning officers.

Residents were overcome with emotion at the ruling, according to Daryl Packer, of local campaign group Stopit2, who said: 'Villagers were ecstatic, with lots of tears. I think lots of beer was drunk as well.'

But he warned it might be a battle won but not the war, depending on the outcome of a Planning Inspectorate hearing in July which will look at the county's Minerals and Waste Local Plan.

'If it decided that it's nationally important then, even if Breedon don't appeal, any other developer can come back with application after application,' Mr Packer added.

Hiring a barrister at the hearing would cost £32,000, meaning they may have to represent themselves as the funds are not available. The village has already spent £40,000 on the legal battle.

Villagers had been left horrified by the proposal to remove 650,000 tonnes of gravel and 510,000 tonnes of sand from the site at Manor Farm and 383 formal objections were submitted.

Historic England also opposed the quarry, saying the 'jarring intrusion' into the area would ruin views from the church.

Haddiscoe parish councillor Sari Kelsey told the planning committee on Friday: 'Homes that are 100m from the proposed site and beyond are threatened by dust and the particulate matter 2.5 [micrometers or smaller], which embeds itself directly into lungs, causing significant damage.

'Quarrying in this field would only serve to whip up dust and roll it over the village.'

Lewis Williams, representing Breedon, argued measures would be taken to deal with dust and noise.

But a succession of councillors on the planning committee spoke out against the application.

Tory Graham Carpenter said: 'It's a beautiful area. This appears to be a blot on the landscape, if it was granted. I am not convinced form what I've heard that the dust will be dealt with.'

Conservative colleague Mark Kiddle Morris added: 'What you are going to be left with is a hold of dust because the site which is being extracted is going to be open.

'On a long weekend, you have a gale with no rain, you are going to get dust and that's without any working going on.

'The application lacks any clarity on how the amenity of the residents is going to be addressed.'

Lib Dem Rob Colwell raised issues including the impact on the church, saying: 'We have heard lots of things which have concerned me.'

And Labour councillor Mike Sands questioned the quarry's proximity to the village, saying: 'The whole process really does raise some concerns.'

The plan was rejected on the grounds that the applicant had not demonstrated sufficient measures to mitigate the impact on heritage assets or to reduce the impact on the amenity of residents to acceptable levels.

The village, which was mentioned in the Domesday Book as Hadescou, is set in rolling countryside and was the site of the county's only Knights Templar preceptory.

It was also home to Sir John Arnesby Brown, considered one of the UK's greatest landscape artists of the 20th century, who died in 1955.

But it is rich in minerals that were deposited during the last Ice Age and has already has already endured the disruption caused by three quarries that opened in the 1960s before being closed down.

Another one was proposed in 2011 but was eventually refused permission in 2014 by the Planning Inspectorate after locals raised a fighting fund of £20,000.

This was turned down largely because of its proximity to St Mary's, parts of which date back to the 11th century. But, unlike the latest application, it had an on-site cement works. Breedon would transport the gravel four miles away to a site by the village of Norton Subcourse.

Last year, another company submitted an application to fill in one of the old quarries in a plan that, if approved, would have had the two major works just half a mile apart.

Speaking previously about the Breedon plans, Helen Gough, 48, who lives opposite the proposed quarry site with her parents Tony, 86, and Dawn, 73, said: 'When we won last time against the pit, we thought 'Great'. Then this reared up again and we thought 'My goodness, not again!'

'We're putting in the same objections. It's almost as if they'll just keep going on and on until they get what they want. It's quite stressful.'

Widower Glyn Harper, 61, whose semi-detached house is a stone's throw from the site, Breedon Trading Ltd of only thinking about the money.

'They're just greedy. They're not interested in what the village wants,' he said.

A Breedon spokeswoman said: 'We will not be commenting, given the outcome.'

A county council spokeswoman said: 'Applicants have the right to appeal decisions if they are lodged within six months of the verdict.'