Decision on quarry near Selby deferred amid concerns

Darrington Quarries Ltd has applied to North Yorkshire Council to remove sand and gravel from land near the village of Hensall, beside the M62, south of Selby.

The plan would see 90,000 tonnes extracted from the 20-hectare site every year for 14 years.

The site would then be turned back into use for agriculture and nature conservation.

The meeting heard that the restoration would take place in phases throughout the life of the quarry, rather than at the end of the extraction.

Although the quarry is a standalone site, council officers said it was effectively a continuation of the quarrying operations that are currently being restored at the nearby Hensall Quarry.

Members of the council’s strategic planning committee were recommended to approve the application when they met on Tuesday this week.

However, they agreed to defer their decision after hearing from local resident Richard Kendall, whose home lies next to the proposed quarry site.

He told the committee he did not oppose the application but asked for a number of measures to ensure the development did not affect his quality of life.

The pensioner asked for the proposed location of soil heaps to be moved away from the border with his property.

He said he was worried about dust and about the heaps blocking out sunlight.

He also asked the quarry for help to create a new access from his property onto the A645 by creating a dropped kerb.

Mr Kendall said the current access onto Long Lane was difficult to use because of the number of vehicles using the road, which he said would increase when the quarry opened with an access near his own.

RECOMMENDED READING:

He added: “I’m not here to stop the development going ahead.

“I understand we need sand to build, but if I can make it less of an impact on me, it would be very good.”

The meeting was told by the applicant that the mound had been placed next to the boundary of Mr Kendall’s property to reduce noise from the quarry.

Grass would be seeded on the soil, which the meeting was told would prevent dust.

The applicant told councillors they would be willing to make a financial contribution towards the resident’s new access, if required.

After a debate, councillors agreed that while they were supportive of the application, they did want the resident’s issues addressed.

Councillor Caroline Goodrick said: “Let’s go away and work out what we can do with the kindness of the company to deliver this driveway access away from the access for the quarry.”

The decision was deferred for officers to work with the applicant on the issues.