Butts Quarry forced to shut down and will now be closed to the public
By Team TMX on 31st Mar 22
Butts Quarry must shut down and close to the public after the Dring family lost its appeal this week.
The much-loved dirt bike haven of Butts Quarry has now closed its gates after serving the off-road community well for decades.
Jenny Dring told TMX that with the current Abatement Notice and the restrictions they would need to abide by "that are completely unobtainable", their track will remain closed.
They are hopeful that with enough support they can get NEDDC to come back to the table and reopen discussions.
The Dring family provided the following statement:
After two years of struggle, fight and preparation and after 15 months of litigation our appeal failed on the eve of the hearing.
Throughout this period the Council have thrown every possible obstacle in our path to prevent the running of the activities at the quarry which were lawful and have gone on for decades.
The Council ignored the advice and input of the Police and the views of the vast bulk of the members of the public including those living closest to the site.
We have been shown great local support. Our appeal did not fail because of a valuation of our evidence or the reasonableness of the Councils view but on a technical argument raised by the Council some 15 months after the appeal commenced and at the 11th hour.
All we had ever wanted to do was run the track in accordance with the agreement that we reached with the Council and set out in writing with them after considerable discussion back in 2017.
The Council themselves pulled the rug out from this agreement without making any criticism of it or our compliance with it. There was never any suggestion that we have done anything beyond our lawful rights on-site and to impose a restriction on the activities in the manner that they did was unreasonable and high-handed and means it is impossible for us to provide the service that we have done so valuably and well received by the community for many years.
Butts Quarry has been under fire from the local Council and a small number of residents for years. This week the owner's appeal failed even after thousands of people signed a petition to try and save the long-running track.
This is another heartbreaking track closure that will leave the off-road community enraged and has left the Dring family devasted.
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