Dartmoor quarry operator asks for permission extension

Conservationists support the quarry's licence being extended

Dartmoor's last active stone quarry could be given a longer lease of life if planners give the green light.

Yennadon Quarry's operators originally had permission to work at the Dousland site until the end of 2026, with the land to be restored afterwards.

The head of Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA)'s development management committee has recommended the application for approval.

The plans will be debated at a DNPA meeting on 1 March.

DNPA members are being told in a report for the meeting that delays with an earlier planning permission for an extension meant some work started later than anticipated.

That meant quarrying and then restoring the land could not be completed by December 2026, it said.

Yennadon Stone said demand could not be met if the earlier deadline was maintained because of limits on the amount of stone that could be quarried, as well as a cap on the number of lorries at the site.

It also said 26 jobs would be lost if the quarry, which produces materials for walling and landscaping, closed in 2026, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

'Living heritage link'

The report added there could be "significant ramifications on the local economy through the loss of the economic activity of those employees and the loss of spending by the operator".

The Dartmoor Society conservation charity said it was supporting the application for more quarrying time.

It said: "Yennadon is the last active stone quarry working on moorland Dartmoor out of scores that once existed.

"As such, the society considers it a cultural icon and living heritage link to the previous generations of quarrymen who have shaped what is one of the finest cultural landscapes in the world."