Blasting at quarry near Tadcaster set to be given go-ahead by council despite residents’ concerns

Planning permission previously granted to extend Jackdaw Crag Quarry, in Stutton near Tadcaster, by 26 hectares included a condition preventing the limestone from being extracted using blasting due to the impact on local residents.

The owners of the quarry, Darrington Quarries Ltd, have now applied for the restriction to be lifted however.

Officers at North Yorkshire Council are recommending the condition be removed when members of the strategic planning committee meet on Tuesday, April 8.

But in its response to the new application, Stutton-cum-Hazlewood Parish Council said it strongly opposed the removal of the clause.

It said: “Those who had experienced blasting previously at the quarry reflected disturbing vibration, increased dust and noise, all affecting their amenity and quality of life.”

The parish council said the quarry was also not complying with the terms of the current application.

It added: “Currently lorry traffic is not always following the necessary traffic restrictions in that lorries are regularly turning right onto Garnet Lane against the ‘all quarry traffic must turn left’ road sign and using Garnet Lane to access the quarry, not effectively washing wheels resulting in slurry and mud contaminating the road surface and creating a skid risk, and lorries regularly arriving and leaving the quarry before 7am.

“There were concerns expressed about the likely increase in lorry traffic if the restriction is lifted, resulting in extra risk to pedestrians and cyclists using the road.”

A report for councillors however states that the removal of the condition would not cause any harm as the effects were likely to be minimal and could be managed.

The quarry is within protected green belt land, but council officers say the removal of the clause would not be classed as inappropriate development.

It adds: “The application and additional information have been assessed and it is considered on balance that there is a need for the mineral and there would be no unacceptable adverse environmental impacts resulting from the proposed blasting.

“Furthermore, it is considered that the proposed development, would not lead to a change to the landscape from the existing scheme.”

The report noted that it would not be possible to extract the hard and consolidated rock, which makes up part of the site, without using blasting.

The original application to extend the quarry was the subject of a seven-year legal battle after attempts were made to stop the proposal by Samuel Smith Old Brewery Ltd.

The Tadcaster brewery, which owns a farm nearby and draws water from an aquifer under the land, twice persuaded courts to overturn planning permission granted by North Yorkshire County Council to the mining company.

But in 2020 the Supreme Court agreed with the county council and declared that the planning permission should stay in place.