Controversial quarry plan not gone away - councillor

Controversial plans to develop a sand and gravel quarry next to houses in a Lancashire village have not gone away, a campaigning councillor has said.

It has been almost nine months since the plans have been in the public eye but Preesall councillor Collette Rushforth said the proposals for the quarry – and efforts to oppose the plans – continued.

The scheme is earmarked for land at Bourbles Farm on Bourbles Lane, in Preesall, and would entail the extraction of an estimated 460,000 tonnes of sand and gravel to insert 300,000 tonnes of tested soil, clay and hardcore.

The application by the Baxter Group Ltd was due to be determined by Lancashire County Council's development control committee, rather than Wyre Council.

But the hearing is facing delays, partly by council workers preparing for the general election.

Preesall residents have cited a raft of concerns including noise pollution, traffic issues and health fears over silica dust, an air-born by-product of quarry work which has been linked to lung cancer.

But the issue has drifted out of the public arena after protests last year.

Ms Ruthforth, an independent who has played a leading role in the campaign, said "just because things have gone quiet", did not mean it had "gone away".

She said the application would still be heard "at some point over the summer".

She added: "There will be speakers at that hearing, so we have been preparing to put forward our strongest case.

"Our argument is that this is the wrong place to try and put a quarry, for a whole number of relevant reasons, public health being among them."

Campaigners from the online group, Preesall and Knott End Against Quarry Application, argued the application breached guidelines about the distance between quarries and human habitation.

Wyre Council, as a consultee, has objected to the scheme, as has Preesall Council Town Council.

The applicants argued the quarry would be vital for the housebuilding industry and said there was a genuine need for it, insisting all requirements for such an application have been met.

A spokesman for Greenfield Enviro, agents on behalf of Baxter Homes, previously said: "As part of the application process and the preparation of the Environmental Impact Assessment, all potential impacts on the local community and the local environment have been assessed and mitigation measures to minimise or eliminate any impacts have been clearly identified where they are deemed necessary."

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