Leading county councillor Stephen Boulton has signalled that the inclusion of Ellenbrook Fields in the county’s ‘minerals and waste plan’ may be reviewed.

Ellenbrook Fields are part of the former Hatfield Aerodrome site, that has been earmarked for the quarrying of sand and gravel.

But despite the site’s inclusion in the council’s minerals plan, the latest application to extract eight million tonnes of sand and gravel was turned down by councillors earlier this year.

That refusal is due to be challenged at a planning inquiry, scheduled to start on November 19.

Should the Planning Inspector uphold the council’s decision, Cllr Boulton has indicated that the inclusion of the site in the council’s emerging minerals and waste plan could be reviewed.

Cllr Boulton – who is the county council’s executive member for sustainable economic growth – made the admission at a meeting of the full council on Tuesday (October 15), in response to a ‘public’ question from Larry Crofton, who is a Labour member of Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council.

Cllr Crofton had asked whether the county council’s Conservative administration would make a commitment to remove the Ellenbrook Fields site from the emerging minerals and waste plan, if the quarry appeal was to be rejected by the planning inspector.

In response Cllr Boulton told the meeting: “I would have to say that we will review the situation once the planning inspector makes his or her decision.”

Cllr Boulton did not, however, make any commitment that Ellenbrook Fields would be removed from the plan.

At the start of the three-minute exchange, Cllr Crofton had asked whether the Conservative administration supported quarrying in Ellenbrook Fields.

Cllr Boulton had pointed to the inclusion of the former Hatfield Aerodrome site in the adopted minerals plan and in the emerging minerals and waste plan.

He acknowledged that the council had a responsibility to prepare a minerals plan to maintain a seven year supply of sand and gravel.

He said it was a statement of fact that part of the former Hatfield Aerodrome site had been allocated for quarrying activity.

Brett Aggregates are set to challenge the council’s refusal to grant permission to extract eight tonnes of sand and gravel from the site at a Planning Inquiry in November.

Last month councillors decided to withdraw the council’s ‘reasons for refusal’ and said they would not present evidence to the inquiry, after being presented with legal and planning advice.

At the council meeting on Tuesday Cllr Boulton said that legal advice had suggested that the refusal would be difficult to defend and very likely to incur significant financial costs for “unreasonable decision-making”.