Consultation period reopened for Gore Quarry water abstraction application

A consultation to gather views on an application for an abstraction licence at Gore Quarry near Presteigne has been reopened due to the level of public interest.

The consultation period started on 5 January and ended on 2 February; however, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has agreed a request from the applicant to reopen the consultation period after seeing the level of public interest locally. The consultation reopened on 21 February will now close on 6 March 2024.

Tarmac Trading LTD has applied for an abstraction licence to allow them to carry on with their existing work extracting minerals at Gore Quarry. They expect that their work will mean that they reach the water table as they dig deeper and that they will need to abstract the groundwater that they encounter.

Tarmac has applied for a full licence to abstract water to remove the water from their work site (known as dewatering), and for wheel washing and dust suppression.

The consultation invites public comment on the application as it was submitted to NRW. After the consultation closes, NRW will take the feedback from the consultation into account and carry out a full technical assessment before deciding on whether or not to grant an abstraction licence.

Ann Weedy, NRW Operations Manager for Mid Wales said: “It is clear to us that the application submitted for a licence to abstract water at Gore Quarry is important to people locally.

“It is because of that that we agreed to extend the consultation period. This gives people more of an opportunity to read the application documents and to give their views.”

The application documents can be viewed on NRW’s online public register, or a copy of the information can be requested from NRW. This request may take time to process and there could be a charge.

Responses to the consultation and requests for the application documents can be sent to permittingconsultations@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk. Requests for the application documents can also be made by calling 0300 065 3000.