Bid to kickstart new quarry project in Lockerbie which will last 28 years

A Lockerbie-based company is launching a bid to operate a third quarry in Dumfries and Galloway.
Hoddam Contracting, which already runs Kilblane Quarry at Locharbriggs and Broom Quarry near Powfoot, is aiming to begin excavation works at the Hazelbank Plantation site in Lockerbie.
If given the go-ahead by Dumfries and Galloway Council, the company will have permission to dig deep into an area of commercial forestry plantation for the next 28 years.
The site is located around 2.2km to the north of St Ann’s and 10 km south of Moffat.
Hoddam Contracting bosses have submitted a planning application to the council, which will be decided by councillors next Wednesday.
The company, which has a head office in Ecclefechan, is also seeking to install site offices and create access roads to the site.
A report produced for next week’s planning committee reads: “Planning permission is sought for the extraction of approximately two million tonnes of rock and aggregates over a period of 28 years, with an average output in the order
of 70,000 tonnes per annum.
“Extraction methods will utilise a combination of drilling and blasting, carried out by specialist contractors, with materials crushed and screened onsite prior to transportation off site.
“Mineral extraction will take place in two phases, each lasting 14 years which will allow the site to be worked progressively.
“Phase one will commence with soil stripping and storage, thereafter mineral extraction will work in a west to east direction.”
No objections have been made against the quarry plans, and council planning officer Chris McTeir recommended that the quarry development be approved, subject to standard conditions.
He commented that there is “unlikely to be a significant noise impact” for the nearest communities because the site is in a rural location.
However, the planning officer still recommended limiting the operational hours of the development from 7am until 7pm, Monday to Friday, and 7am until 12 noon on Saturday.