SLR secures quarry extension

SLR’s expertise in environmental impact assessments (EIAs) for sensitive mineral planning has ensured the approval


SLR’s expertise in environmental impact assessments (EIAs) for sensitive mineral planning has ensured the approval of a quarry extension just eight miles from Edinburgh city centre and at a site adjacent to an Iron Age Fort.

Tarmac, owners of Ravelrig Quarry at Balerno on the outskirts of Edinburgh, have received the green light for operations to continue for a further nine years. This will allow for an additonal 8.5M tonnes of aggregate to be extracted from the site which first opened in 1987.

The extension plans passed by City of Edinburgh Council include an extensive restoration initiative which will see the site transformed into a nature reserve with a loch and public footpaths by 2019.

SLR project director Stewart Lenton said: “We are delighted to have helped secure a consent for the extension of Ravelrig Quarry as its location required the plans to be developed sympathetically.

“By using a multi-disciplinary strategy involving specialists from our in-house landscape architects, ecologists, hydrogeologists, noise, air quality and transport teams, ensured our approach was environmentally robust while maximising the site’s available resources.”

Earlier this year SLR helped secure the development of a greenfield sand and gravel operation for Lafarge Aggregates at a 110 hectare site at Sturton le Steeple, Nottinghamshire.

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