Quarry blasting approved despite objections

Blasting at a North Yorkshire quarry has been given the green light, despite concerns from nearby residents.

Limestone can be extracted at Jackdaw Crag Quarry, in Stutton, near Tadcaster, using explosives after the decision by North Yorkshire Council's strategic planning committee.

A previous decision to allow the expansion of the quarry included a condition preventing blasting, but Darrington Quarries Ltd successfully applied for it to be lifted.

Members of the committee were told the effects were likely to be minimal and manageable, but one nearby resident said blasting had previously been stopped due to its local impact.

Peter Hunt, who lives a short distance away from the quarry, said 6.9m tonnes of rock was set to be removed from the site.

"That's 600,000 trucks," he said.

"That's a tremendous amount of traffic on roads that are not dealing with one twelfth of that at the moment."

Councillor Richard Foster said the move should be approved as long as blasting is "properly monitored" by all involved.

A majority of councillors voted in favour of lifting the restriction, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

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