Oaken Wood: Hope for campaigners over quarry plans

A council is to look at alternative sites for a ragstone quarry in Kent after a public outcry.

Gallagher Aggregates which runs Hermitage Quarry in Barming, Kent, want to extend the site by 96 hectares (237 acres) into Oaken Wood.

Kent County Council issued a second "call for sites" after receiving more than 26,000 objections to the plans.

Campaigners say extending the quarry would destroy ancient woodland and mean the loss of walking and cycling trails.

At a meeting of KCC's Environment and Transport Committee, cabinet member for environment, Susan Carey, said the authority would "shake the tree" to see if other landowners would come forward.

However she warned that if the search for an alternative could not be found, importing ragstone from Norway or Scotland would produce four times the carbon emissions to transport.

Green Party activist and Maidstone Borough Councillor Stuart Jeffery described the decision as "a glimmer of hope" and suggested KCC had been "taken aback by the strength of opposition" to the plans.

A public consultation into the plans earlier this year led to 26,200 objections, many from outside Kent. Around 400 responses were in favour of the expansion.

The Woodland Trust previously said extending the quarry would meant the destruction of more ancient woodland than HS2 and the Lower Thames Crossing combined.

Lance Taylor, chief executive officer of Gallagher Aggregates, which runs Hermitage Quarry, said the company had quarried Kentish Ragstone there for 30 years.

He said the company wanted to continue being a good neighbour and providing jobs and local employment.

KCC has a responsibility for waste and mineral supply planning in the county. The current site earmarked for the quarry was the only one that emerged from a previous call for sites.

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