Quarry owner and opponents may talk

THE boss of a controversial quarry says he will meet a representative of a residents’ action group who opposed his application to tip waste at the site.

Earlier this week Mr Ervine Connell broke his year-long silence to reveal he would talk to Oldham Council about the future of Birks Quarry, on the A62 at Austerlands.

Mr Connell (41) has now said: “I am willing to meet a representative of Birks Quarry Action Group to discuss issues surrounding the site.”

Two weeks ago, his company, Royton-based Opengoal Ltd, had an appeal against the Environment Agency’s decision to refuse a permit to tip at the quarry dismissed by the Planning Inspectorate.

Responding to the latest move, a spokesperson for the action group, said: “Resident members will be only too pleased to help in anyway we can with the aim of establishing the quarry for community use.

“We urge the council to reach and amicable and honourable settlement to the opportunity presented by Mr Connell.

“We would also be very willing to act as a forum to gain residents’ views with respect to uses that the quarry can offer.”

Phil Woolas, MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, had already pressed council officers to meet Mr Connell.

Now, he has again written to Charlie Parker, the coouncil’s chief executive, saying: “This statement from Mr Connell is very helpful and will hopefully start negotiations that will be beneficial to all concerned.

“For the first time since the original planning application in 1988, it now seems there is a distinct possibility the blight of a landfill in Birks Quarry can be eliminated once and for all for the hundreds of residents who live close to the quarry.”

He urges the chief executive to “use his best endeavours” to reach an amicable settlement with Mr Connell that results in:

A financial settlement resulting in the quarry being acquired for the beneficial use as public open space.

A covenant/trust document preventing any commercial use of the quarry in future — other than ancillary to activities including in a wildlife haven, memorial garden, rock climbing.
The formation of a “Friends of Birks Quarry Group”

Opengoal has until April to seek a judicial review on the ruling and could reapply for a permit. The public inquiry was prompted by the firm’s appeal against a decision by the Environment Agency to refuse the permit in April, 2009.