Restoration and Biodiversity
Crown Farm Quarry
Restoration
We have a successful history of restoring previously quarried land at Crown Farm, working in partnership with the Cheshire Wildlife Trust.
The restoration and extended aftercare and management proposals for the extension scheme will be designed to continue this partnership and even achieve improvements to biodiversity, when compared with the currently approved scheme for Crown Farm Quarry.
The restoration proposals will include areas of lowland acid grassland/heathland mosaic with a transition between wet and dry areas, retained shallows and wet scrapes, areas of woodland and hedgerow planting, species-rich meadows for grazing and harvesting use, and open water forming a characteristic mere, with marginal wet areas for reed growth.
The restoration proposals will be designed to ensure that there is also no irreversible loss of the best and most versatile agricultural land.
Biodiversity
Nature and biodiversity are incredibly important to the decisions we make at Tarmac and are significant influences on how we proceed in all aspects of our business.
Alongside our restoration and nature reserve management partners, The Cheshire Wildlife Trust, we have received many environmental awards at Crown Farm Quarry over the last few years, including:
- CIRIA BIG Awards 2021 – Large Scale Biodiversity Enhancement – Highly Commended
- MPA Quarries and Nature Biodiversity Awards 2019 – Innovation – Commended
- EDMP Recognition Awards 2019 – Project of the Year – Finalist
- CIEEM Best Practice Awards 2018 – Small Scale Mitigation and/or Enhancement – Winner
- CIRIA BIG Biodiversity Awards 2018 – Monitoring, Maintenance and Management – Highly Commended
- MPA Quarries and Nature Biodiversity Awards 2017 – Innovation – Highly Commended
Crown Farm Quarry was also used as a trial site for the use of drones for ecological surveys. This pioneering achievement has led to the advancement of other sites using drones. We have also pioneered the use of specially trained sniffer dogs to Identify the presence of great crested newts.
