Hoddam Contracting Co Ltd, based at Ecclefechan, has applied to Dumfries and Galloway Council for permission to begin excavation works at Hazelbank Plantation site, 2.2kms north of St Ann’s and 10kms south of Moffat.
The operator already runs Kilblane Quarry at Locharbriggs, and Broom Quarry near Powfoot.
Requested permission for the 11-hectare site is for 28 years, in which time it is anticipated they will remove about two million tonnes of rock and aggregate, with an average output of 70,000 tonnes per year.
The application will go before councillors on next week’s planning applications committee.
A report for them explains that extraction will be by a combination of drilling and blasting, carried out by specialist contractors, with materials crushed and screened onsite.
It reads: “Mineral extraction will take place in two phases, each lasting 14 years which will allow the site to be worked progressively.”
The phase one yield is expected to be in the region of one million tonnes of material. During phase one, the remainder of the soils and overburden will be stripped from the excavation and stored within the quarry void for use within the final restoration.
Phase two will also be worked to a depth of 185 metres.
Afterwards it is proposed to restore the site to create a marginal heath/grassland habitat within the quarry floor.
Meanwhile, prior to the start of excavation, the site access track and entrance from the A709 would be improved, a footpath would be created in relation to the Annandale Way, a site weighbridge and welfare cabin set up, and limited tree felling.
The report continues: “The plantation cover over the proposed excavation area will be felled; the initial soil and overburden strip will be formed into screening bunds on the northern, western and southern boundaries of the proposed quarry excavation area.
“In addition to this, woodland edge planting will be established along the western periphery of the operational extraction area and along the western edge of the northern screening bund.”
No objections have been made against the plans, however council planning officer Chris McTeir is recommending operational hours of 7 am to 7 pm Monday – Friday and 7 am to 12 noon on Saturday.
