By Anna Whittaker, Local Democracy Reporter
Contentious plans to alter an approved application for a fish farm to include extracting gravel and sand from the ground are set to be discussed by councillors.
In 2019, planning permission for a fish farming facility next to a Nottinghamshire village were approved after the applicant appealed a decision by Newark and Sherwood District Council to turn it down.
Applicant Mr Hudson of Float Fish Farm, which also has a site in Peterborough, applied to build a second site at Wigsley Airfield, around 400m away from the village of Wigsley.
The applicant said he wished to build a second site in the East Midlands to focus on the commercial fish farm and allow the Peterborough site focus on leisure use.
Now, Nottinghamshire County Council must make a decision on the plans after the applicant asked to modify the approved application to change the depth of one of the fish ponds – recovering around 70,000 tonnes of sand and gravel over a 12 month period, which is likely to generate around £150,000.
The money will be used to ensure financial stability for the fish farm going forward, council documents state.
The applicant said the amendment to excavate the pond to six metres as opposed to the approved 1.5m would provide a deeper pond for mature fish.
Newark and Sherwood District Council has objected to the application and said it is concerned that the amendments relating to the pond “would fundamentally alter the scheme that has been granted approval”.
The applicant said that the development will benefit local businesses, provide jobs in the area and added that the “incidental” mineral extraction will help address shortages in the region.
But Wigsley Parish Council hit back, claiming that the application should be described as “mineral extraction with incidental fish farming pond”.
The parish council also objected on the grounds of noise levels relating to gravel extraction and lorry movements.
County Council documents stated: “The deepening of this pond would result in the excavation of the underlying sand and gravel which would be recovered, processed and exported as an aggregate.
“These works represent a minerals extraction activity and therefore planning permission is required for this aspect of the development from Nottinghamshire County Council acting in its capacity as Minerals Planning Authority.”
Nottinghamshire County Council recommended that planning permission is approved and stated that the deepening of the pond “would be beneficial to
the wider fish farm development both during the construction and operational
periods and would not result in any significant harmful impacts”.
The application will be decided on at a Planning and Rights of Way Committee on July 5.
