Special meeting to be held by New Milton Town Council over plans by New Milton Sand and Ballast for gravel quarry

A SPECIAL meeting will be held over renewed plans by for a gravel quarry on greenbelt land in Barton.

As reported in the A&T, New Milton Sand and Ballast (NMSB) has applied to Hampshire County Council for permission to extract 1.7-million tonnes of sand and gravel over 12 years from Ashley Manor Farm, which runs parallel to Angel Lane.

New Milton Town Council will hold an extraordinary meeting of its planning committee to discuss whether to object to the application.

The meeting will be held in the Memorial Centre main hall at 6pm on Friday 19th August.

Some local residents are fiercely opposed, saying the land is “sensitive, beautiful and home to a diversity of wildlife” and raising concerns over noise and visual impact.

However, NMSB insisted it had “in part” addressed residents’ fears during “extensive” public consultations conducted in the lead-up to lodging its latest plans.

A previous bid by the company to dig the site was thrown out in 1992, with a subsequent appeal also unsuccessful after hundreds of residents said development would destroy the local landscape and have a huge impact on livelihoods.

However, the firm said the old application was for a much larger area than that now being proposed.