Safeguarding the Churnet Valley

Moneystone Quarry | Reprofiling of Whiston Hall Golf Course | Cotton Solar Farm and the Preservation of the Caldon Tramways | Whiston Action Group & Churnet Valley Conservation Society | Could You be a Parish Councillor?

In Staffordshire Moorlands we are blessed with some of the most beautiful countryside in the world, Cheadle has been heralded for many years as the gateway to the Churnet Valley. It's not just beautiful it's important to us all impacting the quality of our daily lives, our well-being and even our finances.

Last week we were invited to attend a joint meeting of several groups who are keen to see the area stays safe for everyone during this phase of what appears to be wide-spread development across the Moorlands. Here's what we learned:

The meeting took place at Whiston Village Hall on Wednesday April 15th, Cllr James Aberley chaired and it was well attended and convivial. Discusses took place around the major planning applications affecting the area and to ask for volunteers to reinvigorate Whiston Action Group (WAG).

WAG and CVCS have been very active in ensuring that Staffordshire Moorlands District Council’s (SMDC) planners were kept appraised of the views of the residents of the Whiston area, who were against the ‘life changing’ applications. Members of the Churnet Valley Conservation Society (CVCS) & Whiston Action Group (WAG) outlined the current position regarding each item discussed.

Moneystone Quarry

Dave Walters, Churnet Valley Conservation Society (CVCS) Secretary, outlined the history of the Laver Leisure proposals for Phases 1 & 2, along with future CVCS & Whiston Action Group (WAG) actions to make sure the conditions placed on the SMD/2023/0532 Planning Grant are upheld.

A Decision Notice for Phase 2 was issued on the 10th of April 2026. Questions about the use of a Judicial Review were raised and discussed at some length. The possibility of various challenges will be studied by CVCS & WAG within the 6-week period allowed.

The Grade 2 listed Stables, which were dismantled to allow for the site's development, were considered. The planning grant says that the stones must be used as outlined in the conditions of the planning grant for phase one. SMDC have so far not enforced this requirement, and the building’s stones, once stored on pallets that have now collapsed, continue to deteriorate, along with all the wooden parts of the stables. Dave Walters also explained the difficulties encountered concerning the lack of activity on the agreed Staffordshire County Council’s Restoration Plan.

The restoration of those parts of the quarry not covered by a planning application is a very long-standing issue for CVCS. SCC say they would not act on enforcing the restoration plan while there was still an extant planning application in the quarry. Now that all the quarry's planning applications have been granted, this ‘reason’ is no longer an obstacle to restoration. SCC have yet to respond positively regarding enforcing the Plan’s necessary restoration for the rest of the former quarry.

Reprofiling of Whiston Hall Golf Course

John Steele, CVCS Chairman, presented the Golf Course’s reprofiling issues to facilitate better access for disabled users and to avoid flooding. Everyone agreed that the Golf Course, completed on time respecting all the planning requirements, would be an asset to the community.

The planning grant is for 150,000 tonnes of inert waste to be brought to the site for the reprofiling. This stage of the works will take 8 months to complete and will involve 20 large tipper lorry loads per day during the agreed working day, which includes Saturday and Sunday as normal working days.

However, it is necessary for the site's neighbours to remain alert to any suspicions of non-compliance with the conditions set by Staffordshire County Council, such as the disposal of non-inert waste, disregard for working hours, unclean vehicles, or failure to use the approved routes, among other issues.

Questions were raised about how to report issues; the first answer would be to contact Staffordshire County Council, but further publicity will cover this in more detail soon.

Cotton Solar Farm and the Preservation of the Caldon Tramways

Dave Cooper, Chairman of the Society for the Protection and Conservation of Caldon Lowe Tramroads, presented the recent developments for B.S.R. Energy’s proposals to construct a large solar farm near Cauldon Lowe, which would have the potential to damage the four historic tramroads crossing the site.

Historic England is in the process of listing the Trubshaw Tunnel Portals as a heritage asset and is studying other sections with, hopefully, the same outcome. This, together with other grounds for objection, should prevent the solar farm’s construction in this space.

Whiston Action Group & Churnet Valley Conservation Society

During the pandemic, it became necessary to operate as one committee, but now it is time to once again operate separately—co-operating when needed. John Steele presented the current situation regarding the joint operation of the two groups, which has the disadvantages of being inefficient and confusing.

The meeting was asked if anyone would be interested in reconstituting Whiston Action Group, which could then return independently to its original function; there were no volunteers. The alternative would be to properly merge the two groups and carry on as CVCS, still dealing with Whiston issues as normal. The meeting favoured this option. It was agreed to progress the matter by forming a sub-committee, led by John Williams (CVCS Joint Secretary), which will report progress as required.

Could You be a Parish Councillor?

Cllr Aberley made an appeal to address the long-standing shortage of Parish Councillors to represent Whiston. Anyone interested should prepare to be nominated for elections early next year.

For anyone interested in any of these items and the safeguarding of the Churnet Valley area in general, including Whiston, please email: CVCS2017@btinternet.com. John Williams - CVCS Joint Secretary.

Safeguarding the Churnet Valley created 26th April 2026