Councillors support residents who fear quarry near Grantham will ruin health and homes
Councillors have come out in support of villagers who say the reopening of a quarry on their doorstep will threaten their health and their homes.
Members of South Kesteven District Council’s planning committee agreed they wanted to send a strong message to the county council about plans to reopen Subrook Quarry.
Irish company Tamar Selby Group Ltd has applied to Lincolnshire County Council to update the planning conditions for the old quarry, off Rookery Lane. Permission was first given to quarry the site in the 1950s.
Planning permission, which lasts until the year 2042, is already in place for the quarry so the county council can only update the conditions under which the quarrying company must work. The district council can only make recommendations to the county council.
Residents fear they could have to put up with quarrying over several decades as the company wants to extract one million tonnes of sand.
A representation by resident Petra Williams, who lives next to the site, was read out to the meeting. Ms Williams said: “We know from experience that sand from the site blows at heights of over eight metres towards our properties, often caused by moving vehicles. When the site is a quarry we will be exposed to this all year.
“There is a risk of exposure to dust which is potentially extremely harmful to health and not just causing a nuisance. The management of the dust must be more robust and if weather conditions are dry and windy operations must cease.”
Resident Barbara Campbell said: “In the 1950s and ‘60s nearby lakes were quarried to approximately three metres and five and a half metres. But the current proposal is for a depth of 15 metres. We question whether such an increase in scale is valid under planning terms.
“We remain unconvinced that the ecological impacts have been adequately assessed and remain concerned by the large discrepancy in the great crested newt population count that has been reported.”
David Sayer, chairman of Ancaster Parish Council, said a significant number of people living near the quarry would have their lives affected by noise and dust issues, as well as HGV traffic.
He said: “We would expect to see solid safety measures for Rookery Lane to protect the schoolchildren who walk along there with no footpath in dark winter months and dog walkers from increased HGV movements.
“If two lorries meet between passing places then one lorry will have to back up. Rookery Lane would need to be upgraded to allow to HGVs to fit side by side for its full length.”
Councillor Ian Stokes, who represents the area, said: “The road should be made up to the standard of the A153 as far as the level crossing, a footpath to be provided for the length of the updated road and street lights covering the footpath.”
Fellow area councillor Rosemary Kaberry-Brown described the proposal as the “proverbial blot on the landscape for SKDC”.
She added: “As far as the conservation officer is concerned I am absolutely disgusted that he can say he doesn’t think this is going to to spoil [the environment] at all.”
The committee agreed that their representations and those of the people who spoke at the meeting would be passed on the county council, which is due to debate the quarry in September.
