There appears to have been some confusion over the past few days after a resident misunderstood an article in the latest edition of East Durham Life and set off rumours that the former pit heap in Hesleden could be converted into two quarrying sites and two waste disposal sites.
The misunderstanding seems to have come from an article published on page 4 of this week’s edition of East Durham Life which was promoting a council consultation exercise. The article first refers to our local campaign earlier this year to resist the proposed extension of time allowed to remove spoil from the pit heap in Hesleden. It then goes on to refer to an ongoing consultation on a Minerals and Waste Policies and Allocations Document in which a number of sites ‘within or adjacent to existing quarries in the county’ are included for consideration.
Although not mentioned in the article itself, a quick look through the consultation document shows that these sites are actually at Quarrington Hill, Haswell/Sherburn Hill and Thrislington - not at Hesleden.
The resident reading the newspaper article appears to have read one part of it (the bit where it mentions Hesleden) and confused it with the next part - and then mistakenly assumed the sites somehow referred to Hesleden.
For information the latest edition of East Durham Life can be found in the link below, and you’ll find the article on page 4: https://www.hartlepoollife.co.uk/1-december-2022-issue-185
The consultation document referred to in the East Durham Life article can be found here, with specific site proposals set out from page 86 onwards: https://consult-durhamcc.objective.co.uk/resources/portal/supportingfiles/773145