Angus residents have been promised a historic bridge can cope with lorry traffic from a newly approved rural quarry.
Councillors have given the green light to local firm Geddes for sand and gravel working at Struan, a 90-hectare site south east of Edzell, which will see some 80,000 tonnes of material extracted annually.
Angus planning officials had recommended the scheme for approval and councillors unanimously agreed the application, rejecting a local objector’s plea for a delay in determining the bid.
Lesley Anderson, representing the local community council and Inchbare residents, said a big worry was the possible effect on the listed West Water bridge, which the quarry lorries will travel over.
Roads officials told the committee the site is likely to generate an average of 30 daily truck movements (15 empty lorries entering the site and 15 loaded trucks leaving it).
They will be about 20 tonnes laden weight and the bridge is capable of taking twice that figure, councillors heard.
The head of roads said he did not consider the additional traffic would have any significant impact on either the West Water bridge or other structures, such as the Edzell Arch and Inglis Memorial Hall after worries about vehicle movement vibration had also been expressed.
Mrs Anderson added: ”We do not feel the community and the public have been given sufficient time to take a proper overview of the impact of this development.
”This will last for 35 years and we would ask the council to refuse this to allow more public investigation into the environmental effects.
”This is a kilometre from Edzell, which is undoubtedly a village that attracts tourists and we do not think this has been looked into enough,” she said.
Brechin councillor Mairi Evans also voiced reservations over the traffic issue.
”I don’t object to the quarry itself and the location of it,” she said.
”West Water bridge is fine at the moment, but it is a sharp bridge to get up and around, even in a car.
”These bridges were not designed for the loads that they have taken over them at the moment, never mind an increase in lorry traffic.”
Councillor Alex King added: ”The West Water bridge is a concern, but it is a current bridge on a main road.
”By the time you take into account the bus services and the tour buses going over that bridge to and from Edzell, the additional lorry movements created here are not adding a significant traffic volume.
”People don’t like quarries, but they are a fact of life and this is going to address sand and gravel supply for a long time.
”This committee may not have to look at another quarry in Angus for 10 years.
”I think this is a very good and well thought out plan,” Mr King added.
Committee convener Rob Murray said: ”We need to maintain a land bank of sufficient size and with Stannochy running down it appears to me that this is an excellent replacement.”
The phased working of the quarry – lined up as a replacement for the firm’s Stannochy operation near Brechin – will give it a projected 35-year lifetime.
In 2010 a minerals audit review indicated that Angus had consented reserves of about nine million tonnes in the county’s five sand and gravel quarries, but those have reduced to around 7.5 tonnes, a landbank of 8.8 to 12.7 years.