Tarmac Caledonian seeks permission to extend operating hours at Inverness quarry to meet market demands
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The owners of an Inverness quarry are hoping to increase production and extend the operating hours to meet market demands.
Tarmac Caledonian has submitted a planning application to vary the conditions of previously-approved plans for Dunain Mains quarry on the west side of the city.
The sand and gravel quarry opened in 2007 and was mothballed in 2012 before operations restarted in 2016.
Planning permission was granted for an extension in 2018 and permission was also given to extend the quarry’s operational life.
Tarmac Caledonian says it has experienced difficulty in servicing all market demands due to the current restriction on the start of operations and in relation to the limit placed on annual production.
It has submitted an application to Highland Council to open one hour earlier.
Under the existing conditions, operating hours are between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Friday, for production or maintenance operations, loading of lorries, driving of lorries and soil stripping.
On Saturday, the hours are between 8am and 12.30pm.
In a supporting document with the application, the company stated: "It is often the case that construction works commence at 8am and that aggregates are required on site at this time to allow works to proceed smoothly.
"In this respect, to allow delivery for 8am, it is necessary for quarries to commence at 7am to allow the loading, despatch and transport of materials to the construction site."
It stated the current restriction in operating hours is affecting the quarry’s ability to meet client demands and proposes the site be allowed to open one hour earlier for the loading and despatch of aggregates.
"There are no properties in the close vicinity of the site access onto the A82 and, having consideration of the separation distance to potentially sensitive properties, there shall be no issue in terms of amenity impact," it added. "As the proposal relates to loading and despatch only, noise levels would be significantly less than that for full operations and would be comfortably within the currently permitted noise levels."
The company also believes there is reasonable scope to increase the quarry’s market share to 120,000 tonnes per year. The current condition limits output to 100,000 tonnes in any calendar year to ensure the production capacity does not exceed levels considered through the environmental statement.
Tarmac Caledonian maintains: "While the duration of site operations during the permitted hours of working may increase, there will be no increase in the intensity of operations on an hourly basis."
It adds as the site accesses on to the A82, there should be no transport issues.
