Shropshire firm's quarry extension plan backed by council
A quarrying firm whose planned expansion will secure its future for seven years has been held up as a model for others to follow.
Ellesmere Sand and Gravel, a quarrying and landfill company, wants to expand its site at Colemere by almost 20 hectares, moving to the other side of the road for Wood Lane.
Shropshire Council's north planning committee granted permission for the extension at a meeting on Tuesday.
During the meeting, resident Chris Symes reminded councillors that Colemere was an internationally recognised wetland and a RAMSAR site.
He urged the committee to ensure the expansion was monitored.
Councillor David Lloyd said he had followed the evolution of the sand and gravel site over many years and had seen the company restore the quarried land back to as it was before and in some cases better than it had been.
"Tudor Griffiths is a nationally excellent example of how quarrying and landfill should be carried out," he said. "It is a model of the extraction business."
The proposals put forward by Tudor Griffiths Ltd, which runs Ellesmere Sand and Gravel, were initially much larger. The company had hoped to expand to an area that would give it space to extract 2.1 million tonnes at a rate of 250,000 tonnes over eight years. But after a number of concerns were raised, two phases were withdrawn leaving a reduction in potential material by about 30 per cent.
