from Sunday Herald, 03 May 2015
A Scottish quarry company is launching a new bid to dig a massive hole on the banks of the Clyde despite being rejected four times in the last five years by the local council, the Scottish Government and the Court of Session.
Outrage and shock have greeted news that Patersons Quarries is intending to lodge another planning application for a 3.3 million tonne sand and gravel quarry at Overburns Farm near Tinto hill in South Lanarkshire in the hope of reversing previous rebuffs.
Furious residents, campaigners and politicians accuse the company of trying to “grind down” opposition by repeatedly resurrecting its bitterly disputed plan. Scotland’s planning system favours developers at the expense of communities, they say.
Patersons, based in Coatbridge, operates six quarries across the central belt. It initially applied to dig a new 37-hectare quarry at Overburns near Symington in 2009, but this was turned down by South Lanarkshire Council.
The company made a second application in 2011, which was again rejected by the council. It appealed to the Scottish Government and lost in 2013, and then appealed to the Court of Session and lost again in 2014.
Now Patersons has given the council formal notice that it will be making a new application for “phased extraction of sand and gravel” at Overburns later this year. It is planning a public consultation session in Symington on 26 May.
The company told the Sunday Herald that the new application would be much the same as previous ones, except that one side of a loch created by the quarry would be designed to look less artificial. That was the key reason the last application had been turned down, it contended.
“One wonders which part of the word ‘no’ Patersons cannot comprehend,” said Arthur Bell, vice chairman of the local Clyde River Action Group (Crag). He fears the quarry will cause pollution, damage wildlife and ruin the landscape.
“The plan is crazy, and driven by corporate greed,” he argued. “The community will not be wearied nor worn down by Patersons, and are as determined as ever to preserve the beauties of this special scene.”
Crag is urging South Lanarkshire Council to refuse to even consider the new application, pointing out that councillors had previously made it clear that they didn’t want to see another bid from Patersons. The council, however, said that it was legally obliged to consider the application.
According to the campaign group, Planning Democracy, the system is unfair and inefficient. “This is planning permission by attrition and it’s not acceptable,” said the group’s Clare Symonds.
“What sort of planning system forces individuals and groups into an endless battle to prevent an unwanted or controversial development, because the developer is able to simply submit another application again and again and again?”
The SNP MSP for Clydesdale, Aileen Campbell, has written to the Scottish Government protesting about the new application from Patersons. “This is deeply disappointing,” she said. “The community is absolutely scunnered at the prospect of having to fight the proposals yet again.”
The Labour MSP for South Scotland, Claudia Beamish, has urged ministers to strengthen the law to protect communities. “I am deeply troubled by the conduct of the developer in this case,” she said. “It simply cannot be right for developers to use the planning system to wear down opposition until they get their way.”
Kemp Lindsey, estates director at Patersons, argued that it would be unfair to bar companies from resubmitting applications for rejected developments. The Overburns quarry was needed to replace its existing operation at Cowie near Stirling, which was due to run out in two years.
He accused opponents of nimbyism. “No-one wants mineral operations in their backyard, but everyone wants the smooth roads, homes, cinemas and restaurants that they make possible,” he said.
The new quarry would have “minimal environmental impact”, he argued, and had ended up not attracting objections from statutory environmental agencies. It would only be mined for 10 or 11 years and then would be restored to become a nature reserve, he said.
“Our view is that if we address the issues and tick the boxes we have to tick, there is no reason why the application can’t be successful.”
But local Scottish Green Party activist, Janet Moxley, disagreed. “The Overburns site is fundamentally unsuitable for a quarry because of the risk posed to the Clyde and the impact it would have on the surrounding landscape,” she said.
“The planning system is stacked in favour of developers. It is completely unacceptable that well-resourced companies like Patersons can put communities through years of uncertainty while they try to obtain permission for developments.”
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