Quarry plans draw concerns over traffic and noise in Burgh Castle

Restoration plans for Welcome Pit were on display at Burgh Castle last year as part of an exhibition about plans to extend the quarry to 2036. Villagers are being updated on progress on Monday October 16. Photo: Philip Parker Associates (Image: Philip Parker Associates)

Some 46 people turned out last night for a presentation by Folkes Plant and Aggregates on the company's plans to expand its quarry at Butt Lane, Burgh Castle.

The meeting at the village hall was timed to coincide with a county-wide public consultation on mineral extraction sites due to take place at the end of the year, but now put back until April.

Stephen Daw, planning agent for Folkes, said: 'The meeting went well. What we wanted to do was make sure that everybody, the local residents and the parish council, understood what we were proposing and where were so far.

'It is quite a process. We have not put a planning application in yet, we have made an approach to the county council to consider the site as an allocation. It is an existing quarry and this is an extension because we are running out of mineral and we need more to keep the quarry going.'

The current extraction permission expires on December 31 2020.

The new proposal involves 280,000 tones of material from a new area to the north of the existing workings which would extend the life of the quarry by another 15 years.

At the meeting it was reportedly explained that there would be no increase in vehicle movements.

On average there are six out and six in HGV trips and 20 by smaller vehicles per day directly related to the extraction process.

Other permissions are held on the site for skip workings and recycling of inert substances such as top soil, brick rubble and concrete which are all brought to the site, screened and then resold commercially.

There would however be a 13pc overall drop in the HGV usage of the site if planning permission is granted with Folkes promising to remove the skip activities to another location outside the village.

There were many questions from the floor especially about the ability of Burgh Castle's roads to take the traffic movements and about sand and soil spilling on to Butt Lane as far as Oaklands Drive and beyond.

In response the company said it would widen the site entrance and look at the possibility of a cattle grid to shake off waste from vehicles, and provide a permanent speed awareness sign.