EAST Hampshire District Council (EHDC) has objected to controversial proposals to extend Kingsley quarry.

Tarmac Trading Ltd has put in for permission to widen its sand extraction area to the east and extend the amount of time it’s allowed to quarry.

Sand on the site is set to run out in a matter of months but, if their plans get the go-ahead, the firm could have another decade of digging ahead of them.

But the proposals have ruffled some feathers, with concerns raised about damage to plant life, noise and an increase in lorry movements.

EHDC said it objects to the plan as it would “result in the loss of an avenue of mature poplar trees along the route of a former railway line”.

“These are important landscape features of high amenity value, the loss of which would have an adverse visual impact within the landscape,” the council added.

EHDC was also unhappy with the proposal’s background noise survey, which it said did not “sufficiently cover the hours of operation”.

Brendan Kelly, estates manager for Tarmac, explained the reasoning behind the application.

“The quarry at Kingsley has been operating since the 1960s, delivering industrial sand which is a unique resource used in the horticulture, sports and leisure sectors,” he said.

“The existing quarry has enough reserves to continue operations until the end of this year. Following this we would need to find an extension to the site if we are to deliver a continued supply of this unique resource.

“Earlier this year we submitted an application for an extension to the quarry, which was produced in close consultation with local residents over a 12-month period.

“While the application does not propose to make any changes to the number of lorries permitted each day, we understand there have been some concerns about traffic through the village. We are currently working with the community to ensure that we minimise this impact.”

The final decision will be made by Hampshire County Council, but EHDC’s comments come on the heels of similar concerns raised by Kingsley Parish Council, which “strongly objects” to the extension.

The parish council also requested that, if permission is granted, a condition be attached to restrict HGV movements at the quarry to 45 per day.

“The access to Kingsley quarry is located on the B3004, a single-lane road that is a major link between the A325/ Bordon in the east and Alton/ A31 to the west, which runs through the centre of Kingsley village,” the council said in its response.

“The B3004 Bordon to Alton corridor is subject to intensive use by heavy goods vehicles employed in the two quarries in Kingsley, aggregate recycling sites in nearby East Worldham and in Alton and, more recently, large-scale development in Whitehill and Bordon.

“Traffic, including HGV traffic, generated by the latter will substantially increase over the next 10 years and beyond.

“The traffic survey included in the transport statement submitted with the planning application recorded an average of 253 HGVs travelling through Kingsley village on weekdays during one week in October 2017. The highest number recorded on a single weekday was 321.

“A survey conducted by Hampshire County Council in May 2018 recorded 376 HGVs movements through the village between the hours of 7am and 7pm on a Monday, equivalent to one HGV every two minutes.”

These traffic concerns were reflected locally after two-thirds of parishioners responding to a questionnaire distributed as part of the Kingsley Parish Plan said traffic creates problems in their daily lives.

“More than 70 per cent said that speeding vehicles and the volume of traffic and HGVs were the main issues adversely affecting the quality of village life,” the council added. “More than 50 per cent felt it was not safe to walk, cycle or ride horses in Kingsley.”

In its application, Tarmac said there is one million tonnes of high-quality sand located in the extension area and, crucially, getting it out wouldn’t be a diversion from the status quo.

“There are no proposals to alter the method of working at the quarry, the operational hours, the site access, or the permitted level of output from the site,” the firm said.

“Kingsley quarry is one of only two quarries in Hampshire producing silica sand. In the Hampshire Minerals and Waste Plan, there is a specific planning policy which seeks to maintain a land bank of permitted reserves at Kingsley sufficient for at least 10 years production.”

With the adoption of “suitable mitigation measures”, Tarmac said “the development would not have any significant adverse impacts”.

In fact, the “continued operation of Kingsley quarry would have a number of positive socio-economic effects including the continuation of employment levels and financial expenditure within in the economy”.