Hydralic Lias Lime Ltd (Hl2), suppliers of English hydraulic lime for construction, have secured ownership of Appledoor Blue Lias Quarry near Langport in Somerset. After a year\'s preparation, a planning application has been submitted to Somerset County Council to re-open the quarry and construct a new, 10,000-tonne a year lime plant in it.

Mike Farey of Hl2 went to great lengths to demonstrate the minimal impact the development would have on the local community and environment. However, the application has met with the inevitable local opposition.

The county council held a public meeting on 8 March at which its environmental scientists addressed fears expressed by residents.

Hl2 have also applied for a two-year extension of planning permission on their existing plant producing hydraulic lime nearby to maintain production while the new Italian SIC plant is built at Appledoor.

The application for the Appledoor development has received written support from John Fidler, the head of building conservation and research at English Heritage.

In a letter to Farey he writes: "Considering the visionary attitude of you and your fellow directors towards developing more sustainable construction through the substitution of your products for energy-hungry, polluting cement, and taking note of your participation in the DTI Foresight research into the characteristics and behaviour of limes, English Heritage heartily lends its support to yhour endeavours and wishes them every success."

Farey, the UK\'s only producer of hydrauilic lime for construction, feels the environmentally friendly production of lime for mortars and renders is a better use of Appledoor Quarry than proposed alternatives such as landfill, worm or chicken farming or a parking place for travellers.

He says that, following the success of the Government-funded Foresight Research Project into hydraulic lime, confidence in the use of it is growing rapidly. He adds, however: "At present the bitter pill is that this is to the benefit of importers until the planning issue is resolved and production by Hl2 increased."