A two-year wrangle between a quarrying company and Swindon Borough Council will come to a head in a few weeks.

Earthline Ltd, which runs quarries, offers landfilling and earth-moving services has appealed against the enforcement notice imposed upon it, saying it must remove new buildings and facilities it had put up at its site on Wroughton Airfield by the Borough Council in late 2020.

The hearing of the appeal will be heard on May 10.

Earthline had installed a new office building and an extension to the hangar it uses at the airfield as well as a vehicle weighbridge and ramp, a fuelling area for lorries, a vehicle washing unit and areas of hardstanding.

But the council told the company in December 2020 it must remove them: “It appears to the council that the above breach of planning control has occurred within the last four years.  

"The unauthorised development occupies a site located within an unsustainable location outside any defined settlement boundaries in a rural location.

“The unauthorised development of the site and its use has intensified the vehicular use of the rural road network comprising single-vehicle widths roads without passing bays, risking increased collisions and conflicts with other highway users including pedestrians.”

But Earthline has appealed to the government-appointed Planning Inspector against the enforcement notice – as part of its case says if it wins, it should be given planning permission for the buildings and facilities

Its case said: “Operations such as the appellant’s inherently require large open areas with good access to highway infrastructure. No such land was available to the appellant within the Swindon Urban Area. Therefore, Earthline sought to establish their operations within close proximity to Swindon and at a location with suitable highway and communications infrastructure.

“The site cannot be considered entirely rural and unaffected by commercial and industrial development as there are well-established forms of development upon the site and across the wider airfield.”

The increase in operations and traffic by Earthline has already caused disquiet among those living nearby and on the routes to the airfield.

In April 2020 residents in Uffcott to the south of Wroughton covered the single-track lane leading from the village to the airfield in mud in an attempt to make using the road more difficult and deter Earthline’s trucks from using the roue

The appeal hearing will be held on May 10, with a decision being published afterwards