Wiltshire quarry plans approved by council cabinet

Plans to dig seven more quarries in Wiltshire to provide sand and gravel for building work have been approved by the council's cabinet.

The cabinet was asked to give the go-ahead for the scheme, which will provide 1.2m tonnes of materials between now and 2026.

The government initially told the council it should quarry 1.41m tonnes of sand and gravel to meet demand.

But the council drew up its own targets.

The plans still need to be approved by the full council later in the month before an independent planning inspector looks at them later in the year.

The cabinet hopes the lower figure will be accepted as it is based on the amount of sand and gravel used on average over the last 10 years.

The seven sites were shortlisted from an original list of 62 sites.

Five of the proposed quarries are in the north of the county, with one near Ashton Keynes and the rest close to Cricklade.

The other two include an extension to Brickworth Quarry to the south east of Salisbury, and one in Compton Bassett near Calne, close to the site of another existing quarry.

A public consultation on the plans took place earlier this year.