PDE recently submitted a Section 73 application to Essex County Council on behalf of Sewells Reservoir Construction Limited (SRC) seeking to vary conditions 3 and 4 attached to planning permission reference ESS/01/18/CHL relating to land at Sheepcotes Farm, Little Waltham, Essex. The existing permission allows for the construction of an agricultural reservoir involving the extraction, processing and exportation of sand and gravel and soils. The variation of conditions 3 and 4 will allow SRC an additional two years to continue the existing mineral extraction operations prior to the restoration of the site to an agricultural reservoir.
The application was validated by Essex County Council on 16 July 2026.
Should planning permission be granted it will enable the remaining aggregates to be extracted in full, avoiding the sterilisation of mineral which would occur if the remaining aggregates were left in situ. This will allow the agricultural reservoir to be constructed in full accordance with the previously approved restoration scheme.
