PLANNING permission has been granted for extension of Greystone Quarry, ensuring the life of the site for a further 33 years.

Cornwall Council’s strategic planning committee last Thursday voted nine to four to approve Aggregate Industries’ application for lateral extension to the existing quarry at Lawhitton, consolidation and regularisation of existing operations and associated ancillary development.

Mineral extraction has occurred Greystone Quarry since the Victorian times, with the quarry first appearing on the 1st Edition 6inch Ordnance Survey map of 1882.

The quarry has been operating since this time, exploiting the high quality dolerite, an igneous rock which is geographically scarce in Cornwall, and which is known locally as ‘Blue Elvan’.

The dolerite is a rare hard stone, with high anti-skid properties. The stone is a high specification aggregate having a high polished stone value (PSV) and is therefore suitable for use in specialist surfacing materials, including on roads near school crossings, roundabouts and motorway junctions.

The quarry currently provides full time employment opportunities for around 18 people.

Before planning permission was granted, it was estimated that within the currently consented area, the quarry had a remaining life of between one and two years at the current output levels — around 300,000 tonnes per annum.

The extension area is around 12 hectares. An area extending to approximately 6.5 hectares will be utilised to create permanent screening landform features, a proposed byway and a permanent viewing platform, alongside areas to provide additional woodland planting.

Some members of the public had written letters of objection to the council, with concerns including permanent closure of a road.

Documents submitted to the council state the extension will require the closure of the lane which runs to the south of the existing quarry, and a ‘stopping up order’ would be applied for, under section 247 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, in tandem with the application for planning permission. The lane will be replaced with a restricted byway, to accommodate the Tamar Valley Discovery Trail.

Another member of the public, in supporting the application, warned ‘a refusal will mean that the quarry will close and that those jobs will be lost’.

David Orriss spoke at the planning meeting to object to the application, and said: “The opposers to the application far outweigh the supporters. It’s loss of a medieval landscape.” Adding that residents’ water quality ‘could be severely compromised’ if plans went ahead, he said the application ‘would be a crime against the environment’.

Mr Pitt, for Aggregate Industries, said: “It’s not possible to make an extension outside the AONB,” and said that ‘five small fields’ within the AONB would be affected by the extension.

Cllr Derek Holley asked if compensation for those who use the road that is to be closed had been considered, and was told the ‘stopping up’ of the road would have to go through its own process.

A representative for Highways said this would have to be approved by the Secretary of State and there would be a round of consultation for local people to have their say on the road closure.