Dame Judi Dench speaks out against plans for Barford quarry

Dame Judi Dench has expressed her support for residents near Warwick, who have been campaigning for more than eight years against plans for a quarry near Barford. Photo by Robert Wilson

Dame Judi Dench has expressed her support for residents near Warwick, who have been campaigning for more than eight years against plans for a new quarry near Barford.

The application by Smiths Concrete to extract sand and gravel from the 220-acre Wasperton Farm site next to the A429 over a period of 15 years or more is expected to enter its next phase within the next six months.

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Smiths Concrete must submit further information required by Warwickshire County Council (WCC) relating to environmental matters among others before the end of March 2025.

A second consultation will then open when objections can be submitted to WCC.

Residents who have been campaigning against the plans have created an eight-minute film, featuring an introduction by Dame Judi Dench, highlighting their reasons why the quarry is not needed and poses a threat to the community.

Dame Judi has many links to the area and she supported a previous fundraising campaign for the St Mary’s Church tower restoration project in Warwick.

Both Dame Judi’s mother and her late husband (fellow actor Michael Williams) are buried in nearby Charlecote churchyard.

In the film’s introduction she says: “As someone who spent many, many very happy years in this part of the country, it distresses me terribly to think that this landscape, which I know and I love so much, may be destroyed. I hope it doesn’t happen.”

Having discovered an unredacted copy of the options agreement between Smiths Concrete and St John’s College, campaigners fear that if planning permission is granted, the quarry (which is included in WCC’s mineral plan, along with alternative sites) could remain active for some 40 years, not the 15 years cited in the planning application.

Dr Malcolm Eykyn, a member of the Barford Residents’ Association, said: “We only discovered this recently because the copy of the agreement we obtained under the Freedom of Information act was heavily redacted.

"However, we have sourced an unredacted copy, available in the public domain, so clearly vital information for the planning committee was hidden.”

He continued: “We can see that once the sand and gravel have been removed, Smiths Concrete could – subject to planning – have the option to recycle aggregates from other sites, making the quarry an industrial production base for up to 40 years.”

Campaigners have long argued that there could be severe health consequences, particularly for children and elderly residents, should the 220-acre site become a quarry.

Dr Eykyn, a former GP with specialist knowledge of respiratory conditions, said: “They are putting the health of 2,000 residents, including 250 primary schoolchildren and nursery infants, on the line.

“You wouldn’t build a primary school next to a quarry, so why does St John’s College, an educational institution, think it is acceptable to have a quarry within 350 metres of a school?”

Ray Chambers, Smiths Concrete general manager, has said that Smiths is confident that the proposals are robust, the mitigation measures are extensive and that the quarry is “much needed”.

Smiths has included the relevant links to the plans on its website at: https://www.smithsconcrete.co.uk/wasperton/