Fears fight against quarry road isn’t over Access plan rejected but group says firm may appeal
Cambusbarron residents have reacted with caution following the rejection of access road plans raising the prospect of more quarrying on the village’s treasured Gillies Hill.
The campaigners believed Patersons Quarries’ proposal would lead to the destruction of woodland and wildlife and bring HGVS emitting fumes to Stirling city roads.
Councillors last Thursday agreed, and refused the access from Polmaise Road to the south east of the quarry on the grounds of increased noise and a drop in air quality impacting on residents, as well as road safety concerns. It was further pointed out that tree loss would be “significant” and contrary to the local development plan.
A previous planning application, submitted in the mid 2010s, proposing to extract about 300,000 tonnes of rock a year from the hill’s dormant Murrayshall Quarry, was not determined by Stirling Council and later turned down by a Scottish Government Reporter on appeal.
Following last Thursday’s rejection of Patersons’ road plan, the chairman and treasurer of campaign group Save Gillies Hill Iain Munro said: “We are very pleased about the panel’s decision, but also cautious because Patersons can appeal it. We feel they will do so as they have spent a lot of time and money on the matter.”
In 2017 campaigners had thought the dismissal of the firm’s appeal against the council’s failure to determine plans to resume quarrying had called a halt to the matter.
But in late 2018 the firm lodged the access road plans at the quarry. This had followed an application for a review of old mineral permissions at the site.
Scottish Government planning reporter Richard Dent had refused planning permission for further quarrying on the grounds of impact of traffic noise and the unsuitability of the road access.
The company had claimed further quarrying would yield economic benefits but Mr Dent concluded they were outweighed by the adverse impact of the operation, adding: “It was the unacceptable environmental effects of the traffic on Polmaise Road between the site access and the Torbrex over-bridge and the impacts on residential amenity that led me to conclude the proposal should not be granted planning permission.”
A hearing was held in Cambusbarron in December 2016 at which villagers expressed fears about pedestrian safety in light of the amount of lorry traffic from the quarry,
The company said they had markets for the rock in the Stirling and Falkirk area.
Lorries would have used Polmaise Road, King’s Park Road, Victoria Place and Queens Road, Dumbarton Road, and Raploch Road to get to the M9.
In his report, Mr Dent accepted the residents’ argument concerning lorry traffic. He said: “My over-riding concern is the poor standard of Polmaise Road between the Torbrex over-bridge and the site access. In my opinion, the need to use this section road clearly indicates that the proposal does not represent the right development in the right place.” Noone at Patersons Quarries was available for comment this week.
We are very pleased about the panel’s decision, but also cautious because Patersons can appeal it. We feel they will do so... Iain Munro