Adjacent to Thornhaugh Landfill Site is Cooks Hole Quarry which has also been within Augean’s ownership since 2004.
The boundary of Cooks Hole Quarry adjoins Thornhaugh Landfill Site to the northwest and Thornhaugh II Quarry, outside Augean’s ownership, is on the southern boundary. Bedford Purlieus which is an ancient woodland designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a National Nature Reserve (NNR) is on the western boundary of the site.
The site has been used for mineral extraction since the 1950’s, and since the grant of planning permission to resume working the quarry in 2011, the site was leased by Augean to extract further mineral. These operations are now complete, and no further mineral will be extracted from the site.
Cooks Hole Farmhouse, which is Grade II Listed, and its outbuildings, are in the centre of Cooks Hole Quarry, near to Thornhaugh Brook which runs through the site.
There is a network of Public Rights of Way in the area, one of which is stopped up and another diverted until the restoration of Cooks Hole Quarry.
Since the surrender of the lease for mineral extraction at the quarry, Augean has been considering options for restoration of the site and how best to enable a sympathetic and pleasing landform for both Thornhaugh Landfill Site and Cooks Hole Quarry.