Quarry plan approved, despite opposition

Welton Aggregates says the quarry is needed to help meet demand in the county

Plans for a new quarry in Lincolnshire have been approved, despite concerns over noise, dust and the impact on local roads.

Welton Aggregates applied to Lincolnshire County Council for permission to excavate 150,000 tonnes of sand from land to the south of North Kelsey Road in Caistor, citing the need to meet demand in the county.

Agent Oliver Craven, representing the applicant, told councillors a number of conditions had been put in place to address residents' concerns.

The application was approved by the county council's planning committee at a meeting on Monday.

Councillor Stephen Bunny expressed concerns about HGVs using narrow local lanes, creating a risk for pedestrians and cyclists.

Meanwhile, councillor James Bean told the meeting he "wasn't convinced" the firm had done enough to mitigate the potential impact to historic buildings in the area.

"The vibration from these vehicles could cause damage to listed buildings in what is a historic town," he added.

The proposals attracted 130 comments, most of which were negative, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

However, Mr Craven told the meeting: "The applicant has acknowledged the concerns and has agreed that they're amenable to enter into a routing agreement to avoid the southern route, which was previously proposed.

"There's also an additional planning condition to limit the number of HGVs, both daily and weekly, and provide a robust framework that can obviously monitor the site," he said.

Councillor Matthew Boles noted the public opposition, but said the firm had followed all the necessary planning procedures.

"I completely hear what everybody's saying and what the speakers have said around why we may not wish for this to happen and why this may not be ideal.

"Unfortunately, I don't see any material planning reasons for it. The fear is if we refused it on some of the conversations that we were having we would lose it at appeal," he added.

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