A Lincolnshire sand and gravel company is looking to develop a 20ha quarry in Rutland.

South Witham-based Bullimores Sand and Gravel is seeking a 'scoping opinion' on whether it needs to submit as Environment Impact Assessment when it submits a planning application for the scheme.

The company hope to develop a limestone quarry and restore the site, which is located on land north of Stretton Road, Greetham.

A report sent to Rutland County Council, which will determine the eventual planning application, says a "Site Investigation and Mineral Assessment" was carried out by SLR Consulting Ltd in October 2019.

The report said: "It identified circa 6 million tonnes of Lincolnshire Limestone overlain by 1.5m clayey soil profile, occasionally containing angular gravels of limestone. In addition, there was potential for circa 0.4 million tonnes of ironstone within part of the workings.

"It is also proposed to import inert waste materials to enable infilling back to original current ground levels and reinstate agricultural afteruse. Part of the site will also be identified for biodiversity net gain opportunities (likely to be concentrated along landscaped margins around the site perimeter)."

The report continued: "The aim is for the site to replace Bullimores' current Woolfox Quarry, which is located off Wood Lane to the south east of Greetham. Limestone reserves are nearing exhaustion at Woolfox Quarry and the mobile plant and other site management infrastructure would be transferred to the proposed development."

It said no mineral extraction operations would take place at the proposed site until mineral extraction is completed at Woolfox Quarry. The company's proposals aim to minimise environmental impacts and enhance the land.

"Woolfox Quarry has produced in the order of up to 200,000 tonnes per annum and it is proposed that similar levels of production would be carried out at this proposal.

"In terms of mineral extraction, Bullimores have worked Woolfox Quarry by blasting, however, this is not proposed as part of this proposal and blasting will be replaced with hydraulic excavator as a means of extracting limestone.

"As is the current situation at Woolfox Quarry, a mobile crusher and screen will be

used to process the extracted limestone. The plant would be positioned close to the working face on the quarry floor for ease of loading.

"A hydraulic loading shovel will be used to load the limestone into the mobile plant for processing. The limestone is then crushed and screened into different sizes. A number of conveyor belts will then place the sized processed limestone into small stockpiles. The hydraulic loading shovel will then be used to create larger stockpiles of aggregate before it is loaded into HGVs for sale and exportation from the site."

The report also said: "All plant and machinery have been fitted with silencers and maintained to manufacturer's specifications. The mobile crusher and screener have built in dust suppression (water sprays) measures to mitigate dust generation during mineral processing.

"Bunding would be constructed along the perimeter of the quarry up to 6 metres

high together with some advance planting to ensue the extraction operations would not be visible (or not normally audible) from outside the quarry development.

"In terms of restoration, it is proposed to import inert waste materials to enable

infilling back to original current ground levels and reinstate agricultural afteruse.

Part of the site will also be identified for biodiversity net gain opportunities (likely to

be concentrated along landscaped margins around the site perimeter).

"Importing inert materials will be on a back haul basis as is the case at Woolfox

Quarry and importation will not commence until restoration is completed at

Woolfox Quarry.

"Traffic movements from the quarry would be at similar levels as existing at Woolfox Quarry, with restoration materials imported on a back haul basis. Quarry generated traffic would access the A1 via turning left from Thistleton Road on to the B668 Stretton Road. No quarry generated traffic would travel through Greetham Village."

The report added: "The proposed hours of operation will remain the same as the working restrictions applied by conditions at Woolfox Quarry. These hours being:

• 07.00-18.00 Mon to Fri;
• 07.00-14.00 Saturdays; and
• No operations on Sundays, Public or Bank Holidays."

Rutland County Council has yet to determine the 'scoping opinion' request.