How do you buy a quarry?

[londonsean69]

Originally Posted by Luke_T

Imagine you had the quarry though and you needed to put stuff in it... what would you choose to sink?

Well think as a diver - what would you like to dive on??

Then think as an owner - what can you lay your hands on, and how much are youl willing to spend, not only on acquisition, but preparation (cleaning, stripping out etc.) and then you have to get it in the water. Hiring large cranes is not cheap.

Think about the other sites, what will yours have that theirs doesn't?? What will make it stand out?? Or are divers going to go there twice and start moaning that it's always the same.

How about more fish??

A good healty population of fish would appease the naturalists, and the metal would keep everyone else happy.

There are also ways of making planning applications etc. easier, by the use of 'temporary' buildings - stuff like that.

[SoggyFox]

add in all the costs of laying on the utilties, most mines/quarries would only have very rudimentary services and these will all cost commercial rates to have supplied. If your intending on anything other than a hut and portaloo.

[Colin Marriott]

Originally Posted by londonsean69

Well think as a diver - what would you like to dive on??

OK . . .

Around the site you want waterproof wide-screen monitors playing endless loops of 'Deep sea detectives'

You want the odd mechanical shark swimming around, and the odd pod of dolphins.

In the middle, there needs to be a habitat, with a compressor and coffee bar, so you can get a fill and refreshment for the fin back.

There needs to be a mock-up of a sunken village, and several aircraft carriers, all with detachable, replaceable spidge, that the punters can collect.

If Carlsberg made a dive site . . .

ColinM

[thermocad]

Originally Posted by Colin Marriott

OK . . .
If Carlsberg made a dive site . . .
ColinM

We would swim in beer not water....... beeeeeerrrrrrrr.....

[broady]

Originally Posted by thermocad

We would swim in beer not water....... beeeeeerrrrrrrr.....

..and dive rebeerthers

G

[dry suit diver]

Originally Posted by SoggyFox

add in all the costs of laying on the utilties, most mines/quarries would only have very rudimentary services and these will all cost commercial rates to have supplied. If your intending on anything other than a hut and portaloo.

a fair amount of quarries will have a substantial electrickey supply. lots of the quarrying stuff is fairly power hungry and not all diesel run.


water main and sewage connections are the big problem.


I liked seans answer about the planners refusal on the road issue, usually a good way for a local authority to get a road reconstructed at no cost to them even if the road would take it

Hertfordshire have done this quite recently

[thermocad]

Originally Posted by broady

..and dive rebeerthers

G

NICE!!!

[SoggyFox]

Originally Posted by dry suit diver

I liked seans answer about the planners refusal on the road issue, usually a good way for a local authority to get a road reconstructed at no cost to them even if the road would take it

thats done by everyone with a vested interest, most utilities will make excuses for upgrades for their network as a result of a development, cos its then at the cost to the developer not the utility.

[londonsean69]

Originally Posted by dry suit diver

water main and sewage connections are the big problem.


I liked seans answer about the planners refusal on the road issue, usually a good way for a local authority to get a road reconstructed at no cost to them even if the road would take it

Water isn't a huge problem, as long as there is a mains nearby.
To appease the planners, you could also use 'the green' angle.
Use grey water for toilet flushing (grey water = collected rainwater, or pumped from the quarry etc.)
It is also possible to quite easily treat the waste water (from sinks etc) so it may go back into the quarry (means you only need a foul drain connection then)
Depending on location a wind turbine could help with power, especially as the planning regs have very recently changed regarding them (Apr. 08), although it would have to be a big turbine to power a decent compressor.


If the quarry is in a valley/depression, then the sewage would also most likely have to be pumped out to the mains, then you need to start thinking about macerators so they don't get blocked (big ones are not cheap).
Trust me, unblocking them is no fun.

Supermarkets and housing developers usually 'offer' to upgrade the access and road into or near their new site.
It's a bit of a sweetener to ensure they can get the permissions.

The services would be a problem, but it's not insurmountable.

Like many things, just buying it is probably the easy part, getting it up to scratch is a lot harder, and money, lots of it, is need.

As for making a profit out of it, it will take a while

If you do ever actually do it, or ever get to seriously thinking about it, I'm a CAD guy by trade with a background in Highways engineering (I design them, along with the associated works such as drainage, service, small buildings), give me a shout and I can knock up some drawings for the planners

[Okeanos]

I have enquired about several quarries around Cornwall. The mining rights are owned by the Duchy and any quarries could be re-opened at any time and bought with compulsory purchase orders.

I would like to find one that had easy access with reasonable depth locally, we've got a 92m one with no shallow bits or an 8m one with lots of fish and some cars. Something betwen the 2 would be ideal.

None of the local quarry owners/operators are up for divers playing in their already flooded quarries, and there are hundreds of them

I've found a flooded quarry 2 miles from my house, but no-one knows the owner.

There's loads near where I work, see how many you can find?