Quarries set to reopen despite concerns

Ted Peskett, local democracy reporter

Two quarries in Vale of Glamorgan which have been closed for years will be reopened again for use despite concerns from local residents.

Attempts have been made to bring Garwa and Ruthin quarries back into use since 2019. Vale of Glamorgan Council’s planning committee gave the go ahead for them to operate again at a meeting on Thursday, October 17.

Chief among the concerns related to the sites, which will be used to produce industrial limestone and construction aggregate, is the increase in lorries using the main road from Ruthin to Llantwit Major.

Traffic

One senior planner at the council said the road running through Ruthin will be able to deal with the increase in traffic and that a number of highway improvements have been proposed like traffic lights, more signage and lay-bys. Hedges will also be cut to improve visability and maximise the road’s width.

One member of the council’s planning committee, Cllr Christine Cave, said the increase in lorries using the road will lead to a “considerable amount of traffic”.

She added: “That will then travel through Clare Garden Village bypass and it will come along the Llantwit road, which again is a road where in places it is very difficult for two cars to pass let alone two large vehicles. I am very concerned about the route that has been chosen.”

Planning report

A planning report that was presented to members of the committee states that there is a proposed output of 300,000 tonnes per year of industrial limestone and 200,000 tonnes per year of construction aggregate.

The limestone will be transported in 28 tonne payloads and the aggregate will be transported in 18 tonne payloads, meaning about 80 lorry loads will be transported per day on the lane leading to the quarry sites.

Another member of the planning committee, Cllr Charles Champion, also called the road near the site “very small” and raised concerns about the amount of lorries that will use it.

The proposed hours of operation for the quarries are from 7am to 7pm from Mondays to Fridays and 7am to 1pm on Saturdays.

Blasting operations will take place from 10am to 4pm from Mondays to Fridays and there will be no work taking place at the sites on Sundays or bank holidays.

Head of sustainable development at Vale of Glamorgan Council, Ian Robinson, said: “This is providing a really important resource for something very important which is the development industry, building homes.

“All of these things rely on this kind of development and providing a convenient route to the final location, Aberthaw in particular, is really important.

“Sending large vehicles packed with these weights around much more elongated routes is not considered to be an appropriate way of doing it.”

Garwa Quarry was last worked in 2006 and Ruthin Quarry last worked in 1986. The combined output limit of the quarries used to be 1,500,000 tonnes per year.

Mr Robinson added: “It is not an increase in traffic compared to what’s already been consented on these sites.

“Critically, it is actually a reduction in traffic compared to what has been consented previously at these sites.”