The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
2040 extension sought by blast quarry operator
Firm’s timing, motives questioned as existing permission has 12 years still to run
Residents who say their lives have been blighted by blasting at a Fife quarry fear the problems will continue after plans to extend work until 2040 at a site further from their homes were lodged.
Skene Group has been working on sand and gravel extraction at Lomond Quarry, near Leslie, since 1981 and was granted consent in 2009 to extract hard rock using blasting methods.
Complaints about noise, vibration and dust levels have been raised by local people, who have described the effects of the blasts as like “mini-earthquakes” causing cracks to appear in walls and buildings to shake.
The construction firm has submitted a proposal of application notice to continue working at the site for the next two decades, although the focus of extraction will shift towards the north and north-east, further from the village.
A spokesman for Skene Group said: “By shifting the hard rock extraction towards the north of the site, the work at the quarry will move significantly further away from the village. There will be no changes to traffic volumes, site access, the hours we operate and the amount we can remove each year.”
In its planning application to Fife Council, environmental consultant Ironside Farrar said the changes would create a “wider buffer to Leslie and an opportunity to complete early restoration of the boundary”.
A more detailed application is expected in October but Ironside Farrar is hosting an online consultation from August 19 that will allow people to comment and raise questions.
Leslie resident and local Labour councillor Jan Wincott said: “On the face of it, moving the blasting northwards away from the village would seem a positive move but the devil will be in the detail which is not yet available.
“It is regrettable the Skene Group feel they cannot wait for a more appropriate time to bring this forward, especially as the existing permission has another 12 years to run. One has to question the timing and motives.”