More than 100 objections made to council over 30-hectare quarry proposed for the outskirts of Blairgowrie

dailyrecord.co.uk:

More than 100 objections to a proposed major development on the outskirts of Blairgowrie have been submitted to Perth and Kinross Council.

Laird Aggregates is proposing to develop a 30-hectare quarry to extract sand and gravel from land north of the B947 – across the road from its existing site, which will continue to be used for processing and stockpiling.An indicative design identifies three excavation areas to be worked on over five phases, excavating up to 75,000 tonnes a year for up to 17 years.However, concerned locals have claimed proposals for the new quarry would see an area the equivalent size of about 70 football pitches dug up over that timeframe.The planning application for the quarry was submitted to the local authority just before Christmas.Some of the objections have highlighted concerns including the noise associated with the extraction process, the haulage operations of the quarry, dust and air quality, traffic, the environmental and visual impact on the landscape and the potential impact on scheduled monuments of historic interest in the area.And some of the mainly elderly local residents also said that they felt they were being discriminated against as they were unable to access online meetings and consultations.Blairgowrie and Rattray Community Council is among the objectors The statutory organisation’s comprehensive letter to the local authority states: “We not only support the most directly affected residents in their objections, but also the very valid concerns raised by community groups and other members of our community, as this application affects the town as a whole.“First and foremost, we are very concerned about a number of issues around the pre-application consultation that was carried