Our Objections

Sibelco wants to clear 60 football pitches of oak woodland and floodplain beside Kingsteignton. But their plans clash with today’s laws, policies, and duties. Below is a dossier of the grounds for objection – the tools we will use to hold them to account.

1. Flooding & Hydrology

• The River Teign already flooded in 2024, with Sibelco’s pits overflowing and wiping out footpaths.

• Felling woodland removes natural flood barriers, increasing downstream risk.

• Teignbridge Policy EN4 and NPPF paras 167–170 require the sequential test – no development in high-risk flood zones.

• The Environment Agency can object where flood risk is worsened.

2. Water Quality & Pollution

• Exposed clay and sulfides will wash into the Teign, smothering fish spawning beds and driving out otters.

• Environment Act 2021 imposes binding duties to improve water quality, not degrade it.

• The NPPF requires developments to avoid pollution to water bodies and preferably enhance them.

3. Silica Dust & Health

• NHS confirms silica dust causes silicosis and lung cancer. Children’s lungs are especially vulnerable.

• HSE classes silica dust as a Group 1 carcinogen.

• Devon Minerals Plan Policy M6 requires dust impacts on communities to be minimised – a bar this proposal cannot meet.

4. Noise & Amenity

• Sibelco’s own plans mean 30 extra HGV trips per day, plus bulldozers and diggers running 12 hours a day, 6 days a week.

• Long-term noise causes stress, sleep disturbance, and cardiovascular disease.

• Teignbridge Policy S2 requires developments not to harm amenity.

• Policy M6 also demands minimisation of noise near communities.

5. Broken Promises & Mineral Rights

• In 2013, two copses were destroyed for a road scheme justified as “50 years of jobs.” Just 12 years later, Sibelco wants more forest.

• Mineral rights from the 1960s are not absolute: dormant permissions must be reviewed and modernised; Prohibition Orders can extinguish them.

• Old promises of dust control and flood safety have already failed.

6. Woodland & Wildlife

• The site is 60 football pitches of oak and native broadleaf woodland – the last major forest for miles.

• Protected species present: bats, dormice, sand martins, otters, plus buzzards, red deer, foxes, and badgers.

• Policies EN8, EN9, EN10, EN11, EN12 require biodiversity protection, safeguarding habitats, and retention of trees.

• 110% Biodiversity Net Gain is now law – virtually impossible when felling mature oak woodland.

The Bottom Line

Each of these levers – flooding, water quality, health, noise, woodland, wildlife, broken promises, and mineral rights – is a valid, material planning reason for refusal. Together, they form a rock-solid case to stop this destructive quarry.