LESLIE RESIDENTS have blasted a decision to extend the operating hours of a neighbouring quarry.
Sand and gravel extraction can now go ahead at Lomond Quarry from 7am to 6pm Monday to Friday, and from 7am to 4pm on Saturdays, after a Scottish Government reporter upheld an appeal by Skene Group.
Lawyers for Skene are now likely to claim for compensation from the local authority after the successful appeal.
Skene applied almost a year ago to have a planning conditions amended to allow a 7am start, and subsequently appealed to the Scottish Government’s Directorate for Planning and Environmental Appeals (DPEA) after the council failed to make a decision on the application within the acceptable timescale.
The company also appealed against an enforcement order, agreed by Glenrothes area committee in September, to prevent work starting before 8am.
Lomond Quarry has split opinion in Leslie. While some welcome the employment it brings to the area, others, including members of Lomond Quarry Action Group, claim it causes noise and disturbance.
Yvonne Duncan, who chairs the action group, said: “I am appalled that the wishes of this community, and the decisions taken by Fife Council elected members in the best interests of this community, have been completely ignored by the reporter. This quarry has blatantly disregarded its operating conditions for a number of years, and now the reporter has rewarded it for doing so.
“There is no doubt that this decision will increase the misery inflicted on the local community, which has been endured for so long. It is completely wrong and can only be compared in its enormity to the one that allowed this quarry to operate so close to a residential community in the first place.”
Leslie Community Council chairman John Wincott said: “Unfortunately, this was never an even contest.
“On one hand we had the company with the money to pay experts on planning law, and on the other the representatives of the residents of Leslie, who were relying on common sense, reasonable protection of our amenity, and fair play.
“However, it appears that these factors count for little in the planning process.”
In his decision notice, Scottish Government reporter Malcolm Mahony said there was only “anecdotal evidence” of nuisance caused to neighbours.
He said: “Fife Council have not supported their refusal of planning permission or their decision to issue an enforcement notice with any substantive evidence of noise nuisance to counter the technical evidence to the contrary. Instead, they have relied on the anecdotal evidence of local residents.
“I note that some 270 letters of objection have been sent to the planning authority. A number of these have expressed a lack of confidence in Fife Council’s monitoring and enforcement over a number of years of planning conditions imposed on quarry operations. Some make critical references to a former enforcement officer.
“What strikes me, however, is the diligence with which council officers have followed up complaints over many years, conducting unannounced site inspections and monitoring, none of which has found evidence of unacceptable noise levels from the quarry in the early morning period (or indeed at any other time).”
Expressing disappointment at the outcome, local councillor John Beare said: “There is always a difficult balance to be struck when quarrying operations are carried out adjacent to homes and I still consider that the area committee had struck the right balance.”
Skene Group managing director Neil Skene welcomed the decision and said: “Everyone at the company is delighted that the Reporter, appointed by Scottish Government Ministers, has come out very clearly in favour of the company on every issue within his remit and that he found no evidence of unacceptable noise from the quarry in the morning or at any other time.
“The Skene Group will always strive to be good neighbours, will abide by the decisions of the Reporter and will continue to focus on supporting around 200 jobs in the Fife area.”
arobertson@thecourier.co.uk