Plans announced to create new quarry near village

A full planning application has been submitted for a new quarry in Leicestershire.

If approved, the sand and gravel quarry near Misterton would be around 275 acres and replace the current Shawell Quarry, near Lutterworth, which is due to close in the next few years.

Concerns were raised that the proposal would “decimate” the countryside when the initial interest in using the land was expressed by Tarmac Ltd in 2022.

If permission is granted by Leicestershire County Council, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said the new quarry would operate for around 20 years.

Back in 2022, Tarmac submitted an initial scoping report to determine what the impact of and issues associated with the proposal might be.

After 50 years of extraction there, the reserves at Shawell Quarry are “nearing exhaustion”, Tarmac said.

The site is expected to close in the next couple of years, once restoration work has been completed.

The new quarry would operate in a similar manner and opening hours to Shawell, with work set for 07:00 to 19:00 on Mondays through to Fridays, and 07:00 to 14:00 on Saturdays.

It would be closed on Sundays and public holidays, Tarmac said.

Around 400,000 tonnes of sand and gravel would be expected to be extracted each year and a processing plant would also be on site for the materials.

Due to the site being close to Junction 20 of the M1, Tarmac said there would be up to 17 Heavy Good Vehicles (HGVs) travelling to and from the site each hour at peak times.

After the scoping report was submitted in 2022, South Leicestershire MP Alberto Costa said: “I am quite concerned as to what have I seen so far, especially given the sheer size of the proposals which would decimate existing green land and would significantly add a huge number of HGVs to what is already a congested local road network.”

Once extraction at the site has been exhausted, it would be restored, the company added. This would see much of it returned to agricultural use, with ponds and woodland areas also proposed.

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