Shropshire Homes has submitted new plans for stabilisation of the mudstone quarry face. The southwest section of the face will be stablished with a green wall created with wire boxes filled with granular material. A slope above the wall will protect housing on Castle View Terrace.
However, the critical issue of how to stabilise the quarry face below the Castle View Terrace meadow have not yet been resolved. Previously, the top of the face was to be reprofiled with the loss of part of the meadow. The developers are still working on a solution and I fear it may still involve loss of some meadow.
The aim is to stabilise the south eastern quarry face using Terramesh Reinforced Soil Structure (RSS). This is a structure of rectangular wire cells filled with granular particles, such as gravel and crushed rock. Eventually, it will form a green wall.
Above the RSS, the ground will be built up to create a slope to Castle View Terrace. This will be covered with topsoil and will contribute to the green wall. The slope will protect properties on Castle View Terrace, especially No 25.
The application has been submitted as a new application (21/02832/FUL). This is helpful. Numerous reserved matter applications have been submitted along with subsequent variations for this site. This has made it difficult to understand precisely what has been approved.
The overall height of the RSS and slope will be around 15 metres.
This application is only for the southern part of the former quarry wall. A further application will be made for the remainder to the north. The rockface has a lower slope here presumably due to softer underlying material. I understand plans for this section of the quarry face will still involve some grading of the top of the slope cutting a couple of metres into the meadow on Castle View Terrace.