A quarry near Wigan where three teens have tragically drowned could be filled in

Plans have been mooted to fill in a quarry void near Wigan where three teens have drowned.

Maybrook Investments Limited has made a request for a scoping option for East Quarry in Appley Bridge, also known as Dawber Delph.

This is a formal request to the local planning authority on the scope and level of detail the environmental statement should contain, before a full planning application is made.

The quarry, which measures approximately 300m by 300m, was last worked in the early 1990s and is now flooded to a height of around 25m. The maximum depth of the quarry below the existing water level is believed to be around 26m.

The terrain around the quarry varies from access at water level to a section with dangerous cliffs.

This is the section of the quarry where all three fatalities have occurred.

Craig Croston, 17, from Platt Bridge, drowned in 1999, 14-year-old Miracle Godson, from Wigan, died in 2015, and Jamie Lewin, 16, from Southport, died in 2022.

Over 1,000m of the perimeter of the quarry has palisade fencing or third-party property and the remaining boundary was fenced with a one metre-high barbed wire stock fence since the quarry closed. The section was replaced with Heras fence to comply with HSE requirements.

At an inquest into Jamie’s death at Preston Coroner's Court in 2024, senior coroner Dr James Adeley concluded: “In my view, it will not matter what fence you erect or what maintenance is undertaken, people will still access this site until a permanent solution is found.

“I understand and share the family’s frustration that a solution to these deaths seems as far away as ever.

“The solution to this problem rests almost entirely with the quarry owners, local politicians and local planning departments. It is a matter for them to resolve this issue before another death occurs.”

According to a document submitted to West Lancashire Borough Council, the proposed development will be engineering works to infill the quarry.

It says: “The land would be raised to a level which would remove the water from the void which would remove the risk to human life and health in accordance with the coroner’s concluding comments. For the avoidance of doubt, the fill will be inert - explicitly non-waste soils and stone. The intention is to infill the void above water level.

“It is proposed that finished levels would seek to respect the overall prevailing topography in the valley which falls from the north to the south, whilst reflecting the site history as a quarry. A detailed plan will be provided, but in essence the fill will be to approximately 1m above current water levels to the southern part of the watered area at present, raising to approximately 5m above water level at the northernmost point adjacent to the cliff feature. A sump element will also be required to be maintained to allow future drainage/pumping in the south eastern corner of the existing void.”

The letter also states there are future ambitions of redeveloping the site, hence the need for the fill to be inert.

It states: “The land will be left as a hardcore plateau to facilitate future development.”

WLBC will respond to the scoping request in coming weeks.