Jobs saved as quarry extension is approved

JOBS have been saved by a decision to approve a 20-year extension to a Dorset quarry.

Councillors were told that up to 30 people out of 50 directly employed in the Swanworth quarry at Worth Matravers could have been lost in the near future had councillors rejected the application.

A two-year delay in getting consent means that the quarry is now close to the limits of extraction in the existing pit.

Dorset councillors unanimously approved the application from owners, Suttles Stone Quarries yesterday.

They were told that more than a hundred letters had been received supporting the application, including from Corfe Castle Parish Council – with 70 against.

Ward councillor Cherry Brooks told the strategic planning meeting that the company had a history of being community-minded and had come up with a detailed plan to restore the existing quarry and, longer-term, the extension which will now be dug, together with environmental improvements to surrounding land through a £340,000 fund.

She said that the company employed 110 people, 50 of them in the quarry itself and, of those, 30 jobs could be at risk if the extension was not approved.

Work is expected to get under way on the bridge in the new year, which could take six months to construct, with digging for the quarry extension following on after that.

In the meantime earth bunds will be created to shield the site from the main road towards Kingston.

Operations director John Suttle said: “We are acutely aware of the duty we have as custodians of the landscape,” telling councillors that the extension was vital to secure the future of the business and local jobs.

He said the money pledged for an environment fund, to be administered by Dorset Council, would ensure the restoration of quarry areas and wildlife habitat improvements across 150 acres of surrounding land.

There had been objections to the extension, most focused on claims that the larger Swanworth Quarry at Worth Matravers would be intrusive in the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty over a longer period.

The company said that the 14-hectare extension will not result in any additional lorry movements.