Contents & summary

• A planning application is currently being considered by Hampshire County Council (HCC). It's an application for a commercial development that would turn a wilderness in Ringwood Forest, called Purple Haze, into a quarry for extraction of 8-million tonnes of sand and gravel over a period of up to 26 years. Such a development would have serious community and environmental impacts both short and long-term. The development plan includes restoration of the quarry site: flaws in this plan are discussed in this website.

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• Environmental experts such as Natural England, Royal Society for Protection of Birds and the Environment Agency have formally objected to the planning application on the basis that it will harm sensitive wildlife habitats within, close to and remotely from Purple Haze. The potential impacts are serious. In this website we explain the whats and the whys of these impacts.

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• Local authorities object on the basis of its impact on local communities – disruption to a valuable recreational resource, reduced access to public amenities, traffic congestion & danger, noise and pollution. We explain these impacts.

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• We, Friends of Ringwood Forest, have been objecting since 2011 when HCC first proposed the inclusion of Purple Haze in its Minerals & Waste Plan. Why? Because we love the forest and know all too well what havoc would be caused by turning a forest into a big hole in the ground.

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• HCC is in the process of revising its Minerals and Waste Plan for Hampshire. If not changed, the plan would continue to include Purple Haze as a potential site for quarrying sand & gravel and subsequent use for landfill with non-hazardous or inert waste (we explain what these are later). Regardless of the outcome of the current planning application, Purple Haze

– if included in the Plan – would remain a target for quarrying and landfill for decades.

 

• In a recently concluded public consultation regarding the revised Hampshire Minerals & Waste Plan plan – because of its inclusion of Purple Haze as a quarry – was objected to by hundreds of the local community (2,123 visitors viewed this website during the consultation period).

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• technical arguments aside, common sense asks who'd put a quarry and potential landfill site that's 300-metres long and up to 20-metres deep right next to one of the UK's most popular recreational attractions – Moors Valley Country Park?

This park is a place which delights near to a million visitors every year. 

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• This website will continue to be a constantly updated, single source for information on Purple Haze and related topics.

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