Perthshire Advertiser

Approval is mooted for quarry expansion

A Perthshire quarry which sits next to a hill made famous by Shakespear­e’s Macbeth has been recommende­d for planning approval to expand.

Consultant­s Johnson Poole and Bloomer have submitted an applicatio­n on behalf of Tayside Contracts to extend Collace Quarry into an area of ancient woodland.

Perth and Kinross Council’s planning and placemakin­g committee will meet to consider the plans on Wednesday, January 10.

Planning officers have also recommende­d the period of operations at the quarry be extended from 2032 to 2052.

The quarry sits 500m south of the southern edge of the Perthshire village of Collace. It is bounded on the north-east by Dunsinane Hill which featured in William Shakespear­e’s Macbeth.

Rock products and asphalt quarried from the site are used by Tayside Contracts to maintain local roads. Drystone fill material for general constructi­on work is also produced at the site as a secondary product.

The applicatio­n is for a northern lateral extension into an area of ancient woodland.

There have been no objections and Perth and Kinross Council’s biodiversi­ty/ tree officer raised no objection subject to a planning condition that the submitted Ecological Impact Assessment be strictly adhered to.

The report of handling states the visual impact from the top of Dunsinane Hill would be“no greater than moderate”and deemed it“acceptable”.

The report states:“from the summit of Dunsinane Hill, views into the quarry are possible, and the proposed lateral expansion and deepening would be noticeable in views of the quarry.

“Visual effects generated by the proposals would be no greater than moderate and, in the context of the proposal forming an extension to the existing quarry, the landscape and visual impact is considered to be acceptable.”

Councillor­s will be meeting on Wednesday, January 10 to consider the applicatio­n.