Quarry site could reopen in 10-year plan

The Thornton quarry site near Bradford is close to the village where the Brontë sisters were born

A former quarry could be reopened to provide 200,000 tonnes of “high-demand” sandstone over the next decade.

Plans submitted to Bradford Council said the quarry site at Thornton, near the birthplace of the Brontë sisters, contained "very high-quality" sandstone which could be used locally.

If plans are passed, the quarry could provide "much-needed important conservation materials" for local heritage buildings, site owner Eliot Smith said.

A decision is expected in late November.

The stone could be used for building, flagstones and roofing without the need for transporting it across the country, the plans said.

Eliot Smith bought the 1.34-hectare site in 2018, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The firm said the material would be extracted and exported from the site on a "low-intensity basis", with up to 10 HGV trips a day for the next decade.

'Sustained demand'

It said the quarry could provide a "small-scale, sustainable and local source of building materials" and would be important to "support the local vernacular building style in both heritage works and new builds".

There has been "sustained demand for natural stone" in recent years with more historic buildings needing repairs, an increased appreciation of stone buildings and a "renewed interest" in natural stone for new-builds, the applicant said.

Eliot Smith told Bradford Council that around 20,000 tonnes could be extracted from the site each year for the next 10 years.

Historically - pre-dating planning controls - the site was quarried for minerals over many decades but it has not been used as a quarry for a long time and there were still reserves of sandstone, the firm said.

It has recently been used to store vehicles and scrap, the application said.

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