CM/0011/25 - Spade Oak Quarry, Marlow Road, Little Marlow, Buckinghamshire, SL7 3SB (part 12 of 12)

Chairman, I second Councillor Moore's motion and I support the officer's recommendation. What I would say to colleagues around the table is, you know, I really think we really ought to focus. What I want to do is concentrate on the most important issue raised by the, you know, in opposition by some of the war councillors today and some of the submissions that we've seen today as well, which is the ecology argument. Now, we've heard concerns about the impact of wildlife, you know, water quality at Spade Oak Lake. Councils will know that we'll set on planning applications with me is that I take those concerns quite seriously. But I think we need to be clear about what the evidence says in front of us today. Natural England, which is the Statute of the Body established by Parliament, has been consulted on this application and they've raised no objection. They've confirmed that, you know, essentially that the proposed development will have no significant adverse impact on the proposed site. The council's own ecologist has also been consulted. Rather than objecting, they've come up with recommended helpful conditions, which one day or what would be legally binding by MOU or Section 106, MOU, I think, to protect this habitat. So the ecology, from my perspective, is not being ignored. It's being actively managed and protected through the conditions attached to this very permission, if we were to vote for it today. And just earlier, I placed on public record, and I know this has sort of been raised by some of the speakers today, in my capacity as chair of the Standards Committee, the question of whether this recommendation has been reached independently and on planning merits alone. And the officers have given that on public record. And therefore, from my perspective, I think the process has been sound, the ecology is protected, and I'll be voting along with the officers' recommendation. Thank you.