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ONE of the UK's largest private property
developers, with a £300 million fortune and a footing on The Times Rich
List, has dropped plans to invest in Penlee Quarry at Newlyn.
Grahame
Whateley, leading entrepreneur and self-made millionaire, who
considered taking on the contentious chunk of Mount's Bay, has pulled
out of the plan.
Edward
Iliffe, managing director of Marina Developments Limited, which owns
the majority of the quarry, said hopes to build a luxury housing and
marina complex were only temporarily dashed.
"It's
slow at the moment, but we have not stopped; we're talking to more
interested companies and still want to get involved with some of the
other projects in terms of providing stone," he said.
A
planning application by MDL to temporarily vary the scale of blastings
to deal with unexploded explosives discovered in the southern part of
the quarry were being decided by Cornwall County Council's planning
committee today.
MDL estimates that 17,000 cubic metres of rock requires investigation which would take five months to complete.
The
company seeks to vary the hours of quarry operations from 7.30am until
6pm, Monday to Friday. The quarry operating times are currently
restricted between 8am and 6pm, with blasting times restricted to
between 10am and 4pm, Monday to Fridays.
Among the comments made during the consultation was Penwith councillor Peter Mates, who represents Penzance east ward.
He
commented: "It has been suggested that the areas earmarked for
clearance are the same as those identified for the proposed housing and
marina site and that the proposals should be part of a planning
application to the local planning authority.
"While
I have no feelings one way or another in respect of the proposed
development of the site, I am concerned that development continues,
alleged levelling, excavation and landscaping in preparation for
housing and marina, without any formal planning application being made."
However, Edward Iliffe refuted the claim and said MDL is required under law to remove any leftover explosives.
"We're
not digging up virgin rock here. There's a health and safety issue that
has to be resolved by removing the unexploded explosives left by the
previous operators and our biggest problem is there were no plans left
behind," he said.
article copyright THE CORNISHMAN
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