hi,

i'm new here, obiviously but I come seeking help. I'm looking for any information or advice that may possibly help me.

I want to find out who owns quarry's in the Chester-le-street/Stanley/Pelton fell areas.

Does anyone know who i need to contact or where i can find this information out?
I want to either buy or rent the quarry for a non profit community project. So any advice greatly appreicated.

Thanks
Andrew

The BGS http://www.bgs.ac.uk/  may know who holds the mineral rights to the quarries you're interested in if there's active permissions on them. The Land Registry may have details of who owns the surface of a site (ownership of the land and the mineral rights does not necessarily lie in the same hands). If you're interested in a particular site and no-one seems to know who owns it, one possibility is talking to your local council about them doing a compulsory purchase order on behalf of your project - that was done here in the Peak with the site of Silence mine, where the national park did a CPO on the apparently ownerless site on behalf of a local community group and then handed it over to them for a nominal sum.

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Can't really add much to AR's post but similar link.http://www.bgs.ac.uk/mineralsUK/minequar/uk/home.html 

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Sherburn Stone seem to be the biggest stone people in the Durham area and have a fair old number of quarries. I see from Touchdurham.com that they have Crime Rigg quarry due East of Durham but can't say if it is working or disused. I'm led to believe that they also have extensive mineral rights interests in northern England

The Central Office is at 15, Front Street, Sherburn Hill, Durham DH6 1PA. Tel 0191 372 0636

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Are these sites still active or disused?? I highly doubt they belong to sherburn stone - your best bet would be to ring the area county council and enquire with the mineral planning department,they will be able to tell you the sites status and current owner/operator.

hope that helps.

Chris doesn't give a reason for doubting Sherburn's ownership. However if you start "doing something" in a quarry, you'll never believe how fast an owner turns up! :lol:

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Apologies -my post probably seemed a tad arrogant-the reason i state this is because i am quite aware that sherburn have only operated in their time the witch hill-sherburn hill and crime rigg sites aside from their brief stint of owning-running intio the ground groverake/frazers hush mine from which they also inherited the broadwood quarry- they have 2 concrete plants near hartlepool part of which is/was landfill-and im certain a number of the above are now defunct.

i am unaware of any operational sites in pelton fell/chester le street other than landfill which i believe was cairds again these are now gone,and i am also aware that sherburn have downsized their operations in the last 10 years - again i have never once read- heard that sherburn had operations further north than the sherburn hill quarry so i suspect your only bet of finding out is the district council,

on the off chance that sherburn are the owners of the quarries your hoping to access youll need all the luck you can get- so yeah-good luck with that-let me know how that goes !

it would be interesting to have some idea of what the nature of your "non-profit community project" actually was.

as has already been pointed out, quarry owners are, generally speaking, commercial operators who run their sites for whatever profit can be generated from them; as quarries, landfill sites, maybe as land-banks used as commercial collateral somewhere in the business, or simply as minor sites acquired as part of a completely different deal; and there's no real reason why they should be otherwise.

they aren't community minded. However if you expect to attract the support of people who ARE, and your initial post implies this, it would be as well to know that your idea of a community project coincides with a group who probably won't help you much, but can be endlessly obstructive

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As Derrickman's rightly pointed out, quarry owners aren't charities so even if a quarry now looks like a nature reserve, don't expect them to let you walk in there and do what you want. However, that's not to say you might not be able to negotiate something even if there's an existing permission on it, especially if there's a chance of good PR for the owning company.

You might be able to get permission to use the quarry for your purposes, although if it's still got an active permission on it you run the risk of the owners wanting to start extracting again and asking you to leave. If they're wanting to expand on another site in the area and you can get the Local Authority on-side, then there's the possibility that the LA may negotiate a Section 106 agreement with the owners giving up the permission on one site in return for a new permission on another, thus (hopefully) freeing up the quarry for your project.

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I was also thinking of the complex ( and sometimes quite poisonous ) undergrowth of existing bodies within the local authority, or some possible community project whose interests or funding demands you may overlap or conflict with, which you are likely to meet

there are an awful lot of people right now doing jobs of no economic value, and little if any interest to the private sector; and there will be God's own mess next year once the election has come and gone and whoever has got the whole sad mess on their desk and the IMF drinking all the teabags and waiting for things to hit the buffers, is looking for anything they can cut that won't cost them too many votes

job protection will be a major industry by next summer :surrender:

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Hi Guys

Thanks for the advice. I've been in contact with my local councils again, but to no avail.
I've actually been to a number of quarries in the region such as salters gate stone quarry. I've been unable to find out/acquire any information on them.
I do hear what you are saying, obiviously a non commerical project is probably going not going to interest them.

My idea was to open a Remote control car centre, for outdoor trucks and off road cars, as well as to maximise the time i'd be renting/leasing the land. I'd also look into other out door clubs (i've a few in mind-but not confirmed the legal side of things yet)

There was a proposal a couple of years ago to use Saltersgate Quarry for moto-cross and trials bikes but then there was a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth from the tree-hugger brigade with cries of "Great Crested Newt" so you can guess how that all ended up. The quarry has lain idle ever since and I guess your proposal would meet with the same sort of reaction which is a pity as the site would have been ideal. 😞

There was a proposal a couple of years ago to use Saltersgate Quarry for moto-cross and trials bikes but then there was a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth from the tree-hugger brigade with cries of "Great Crested Newt" so you can guess how that all ended up. The quarry has lain idle ever since and I guess your proposal would meet with the same sort of reaction which is a pity as the site would have been ideal. 😞

You really dont want to go anywhere near there mate. Last time I went there was a lot of dodgy blokes in the forest nearby, I was terrified...it seems to be one of the most famous dogging sites in the North East, so they say :tongue:

There was a proposal a couple of years ago to use Saltersgate Quarry for moto-cross and trials bikes but then there was a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth from the tree-hugger brigade with cries of "Great Crested Newt" so you can guess how that all ended up. The quarry has lain idle ever since and I guess your proposal would meet with the same sort of reaction which is a pity as the site would have been ideal. 😞

You really dont want to go anywhere near there mate. Last time I went there was a lot of dodgy blokes in the forest nearby, I was terrified...it seems to be one of the most famous dogging sites in the North East, so they say :tongue:

I know, i remember seeing you from the trees 😃 :tongue: