Purple Haze overview
Purple Haze is a 47-hectare (117-acre) area consisting of beautiful heathland and hilly forest: a wilderness bounded by tracks well-used and loved by local communities.
Purple Haze: where is it?
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Use Walkers Map with
Blue haze main tracks,
Ebblake Bog and relevant
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Purple Haze is located on the Hampshire side of the border with Dorset. It lies between between the Ringwood-Verwood Road (B3081) and the Moors Valley Country Park to its South. Ebblake Bog, one on the most important environmental sites of its type in Europe, is located a few hundred metres 'down-stream' to the West from Purple Haze. INSET SURROUNDED BY URBAN COMMUNITIES
Purple Haze: what's its significance?
This sandy track, running alongside Purple Haze, reveals the area's significance: sand. For years, Purple Haze has been listed in Hampshire's Minerals & Waste Plan as site for sand & gravel quarrying and landfill.
A disaster waiting to happen. Friends of Ringwood Forest aim to stop it.
As an environmental group, our mission is to protect what is the beautiful area of trees and mixed heathland that is Ringwood Forest – an important part of which is now threatened by the proposed Purple Haze quarry. Read about us here.
As we'll explain, excavating a major part of this area as a quarry would be a disaster – one that we (Friends of Ringwood Forest) are dedicated to preventing. Last year, 2023, we and many more objected to a planning application to proceed with sand & gravel extraction. The period for the application's consultation responses (such as objections) expired last year. What followed was a process whereby Hampshire County Council (HCC) planning department examined the application and analysed the consultation responses. That process continued until recently. But now the process is stalled. Again we'll explain this later. LINK THIS IS 16 PX
Disaster: turning a wilderness like this . . .
The interior of Purple Haze where the Through the Forest bike track crosses over an area of wetland:
This illustrates part of the mixed habitat that's a tranquil and secluded environment for rare small reptiles, birds and flowers. The track is a perfect way for getting families close to nature without harming it.
. . . into a quarry like this . . .
How Purple Haze quarry workings could look (it would be worse than this). This photo is from a quarry nearby in Somerley, Ringwood Forest.
QUARRY MAIN METRICS
. . . disrupting your access to recreational and health activities . . .
The 'Wide Ride', a green lane that runs the width of the park and side-by-side with the proposed quarry excavation site.
COMMUNITY STORY
The Through the Forest bike trail as it weaves through Purple Haze's undulating terrain.
MOORS VALLEY INTEGRATION STORY. VISITOR USE.
​. . . harming valuable nearby environmental treasures like this . . .
Ebblake Bog, a wetland within Ringwood forest.
Ebblake Bog is of such environmental importance that it is a site of special scientific interest (SSSI), protected by UK, EU and UNESCO directives. It is classed as a special protection area (SPA), a special area of conservation (SAC) and a Ramsar site
(designated by a convention on wetlands of international importance, The bog is 520-metres from Purple Haze.
​. . . harming rare and protected species
Among the Purple Haze inhabitants: sand Lizards. © Stephen Bolwell. Please visit stephenbolwell.com for more great wildlife pictures.
EXPLANATORY TEXT xrefer to RISKS
. . . escalating traffic congestion & related polution
The Ringwood-Verwood Road B3081 runs parallel to Purple Haze: already congested and dangerous without Purple Haze. With the quarry, it would be the feeder for heavy trucks and tractors to and from the quarry.
The developer estimates that Purple Haze truck movements would be 45 outward and 45 inward during an 11-hour working day. Thus, on average a Purple Haze heavy truck will use the B3081 every 7 (yes!) minutes.
And creating problems elsewhere
Jack's Garden Ashley Heath: environmental offset area #1 (see map below). This would be closed, partially or fully, to public access.
Environmental offsets are areas used to relocate species (animals or plants) as a mitigation to their home habitat being destroyed – which would be the case with the Purple Haze quarry, should it be approved. Where necessary, the habitat in the offset area is converted such as to match the destroyed habitat (a task easier said than done). This generally means wholesale felling of trees and maybe long-term restricted access or no access
The reality of a quarry at Puple Haze
Removal of felled trees by heavy plant like this cause track closures
Cab is 2.8m hi reduce dwg size
MAKE A SIMPLIFIED VERSION OF THIS. ADD CLAY LAYER.
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The site is 117-acres (47-hectares) and adjacent to Moors Valley Country Park. In simple terms, pulling 8 million tonnes of sand and gravel out of Purple Haze, involves the creation of a very big and ugly hole: 300-metres long and, in places 20-metres deep. It's a process that would take 21 to 26 years. After quarrying it gets restored by Whether it gets restored into a different but attractive landscape and a successful natural habitat isn't a forgone conclusion . . .
The reality of site restoration
EXPLAIN REALITIES
This website aims to explain the downsides of a Purple Haze quarry on the environment and community (there don't seem to be any upsides other than commercial or waste management ones). A common thread through multiple objections is that sufficient information has not been provided, despite the planning process having run since 2011. There are so many questions outstanding that it is difficult to predict what would actually happen were the quarry to go ahead.
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Commercial reality and probability:
• The quarry operator understandably demands a high return on what is a massive investment.
• That means extracting as much sand as possible as cheaply as possible.
• The quarry operator has undertaken to restore the quarry to a pristine and visually attractive environment.
• Such restoration is also a massive investment for the operator.
• Restoration of natural habitats is a serious commitment for the operator – over decades. It's difficult and may not succeed.
• Business involves risk. And the risk is that the operator – for unseen circumstances, perhaps not finding enough sand of the right quality – quits the site at any point in the next two decades or doesn't / can't implement any part of the restoration plan.
• Result: a big hole in the ground and NO way of enforcing restoration.
• Hampshire County Council's only option, perhaps, get a contractor to level the site with inert waste* landfill and help solve a big problem with waste management.
•Bottom line: a wrecked habitat and lost recreational resource for the community.
What is inert waste? Inert waste is waste which is neither chemically nor biologically reactive and will not decompose or only very slowly. Examples of this are sand, clay, soil, chalk, concrete, demolition waste such as rubble but with minimal timber content. This waste has particular relevance to landfills as inert waste typically requires lower disposal fees than biodegradable or hazardous waste.
Such risk is a tangible commercial reality, especially in these turbulent times. The only way to avoid this risk is to force a situation where under no circumstances, ever, can Purple Haze be excavated.
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​The alternative is this . . .
A Purple Haze landfill
Who objected to the Purple Haze planning application?
In addition to extensive objection to the original planning application for Purple Haze quarry from Friends of Ringwood Forest and our supporters, there was considerable objection from important expert groups 9see risk assessment page here)
The Risk assessment page on this site illustrates just how seriously expert groups like Natural England, Environment Agency, RSPB and many others take the environmental risks presented by a Purple Haze quarry. Risks way beyond endangering reptiles and nightjars.
MODIFY THIS
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​In the H M&W Plan etc PH is continues to be proposed as a potential quarry site for extraction of sand and gravel as one of x sites in Hampshire.
Purple Haze is We present a range or arguments, backed by expert opinion* that PH is not viable as a quarry site. Location, location, location and should be removed from the plan as an option. The draft plan also lists PH as a potential landfill site for non-hazardous waste or inert waste as a precursor to site restoration. We present further arguments.
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Expert opinion that we quote dervies from objections from ** to a current planning application by the quarry operator Grundon S&G ltd which app is currently under consideration by HCC.
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Currently, ref NE
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Range of objections
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Lack of information eg restoration. We offer a series of questions that need to be answered in order, in our opinion, to be answered before a full apraisal of impacts can be made. These are listed in the Risk assessment page of this site
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On the basis of current info impacts are.
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The need for sand is recognised. Analysis of other sites.
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In previous iterations of this site, we have sought to provide a single source of information etc to assist the general public in submitting its opinion with regard to whether planning consent etc. In a second iteration of this site we have continued to assist the general public with regards to participating in HCC's consultation of ... in respect specifically Purple Haze.
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I this, the third iteration of the site, we seek to provide a single source of information for decision makers considering the HCC plan. We provide links to objection statements, by expert bodies, to Grundon's planning application and present abstracts of these.
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The x page summarises the pictorial argument we presented general public as to why, in our view, a quarry at purple haze is not in the interest of the local community, visitors among the millions visiting MVCP and the natural environment.
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Conclusion
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Common sense: this isn't the place for a quarry!
Maybe the powers that be are beginning to agree with us.
Please keep watching this site for news.
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