The creation of a quarry which a senior health officer warned could impact on neighbours’ health has been stonewalled by Fife councillors.
NHS Fife’s consultant in public health medicine Dr Jackie Hyland told Fife Council that residents living nearby, particularly children, could be harmed by dust emissions from extraction of two million tonnes of sand and gravel from farmland near Collessie.
A planning application by Forfar firm Laird Aggregates to form the quarry at Kinloch Farm, in the Howe of Fife, was unanimously rejected by the North-east Fife area committee.
A delegation of more than 80 objectors brought their campaign against the 82-hectare development, which would have lasted 15 years, to yesterday’s meeting.
Afterwards Phil Hutchinson, who lives just 100 metres from the site boundary, said: “Common sense has prevailed.”
Laird Aggregates has the right to appeal to the Scottish Government.
Mr Hutchinson added: “We are perfectly happy to participate in any appeal.
“We are particularly concerned that we live down wind from the proposal site and we have severe wind speeds in that part of the Howe.”
A petition against the proposal had almost 400 signatures and nearly 100 letters of objection were submitted to the council.
As well as fears about the impact on health, there were worries about noise, safety of heavy goods vehicles on the narrow B937, the visual impact and the impact on the water table.
Council planners had recommended the plan be approved. They said mitigation measures, including the use of water bowsers, would reduce the potential for dust impact to low in terms of nuisance and negligible in terms of health.
Despite the advice from Dr Hyland, planner James Wright told the committee that the council and Government air quality departments were satisfied dust emissions would be low. The nearest house would have been 120 metres from operations and Mr Wright said the majority of dust would settle within 100 metres.
However, councillors were united in their opposition to the quarry only split on the grounds for refusal.
Questioning whether assurance could be given that dust from the quarry would not cause a single case of lung disease, Cupar councillor Karen Marjoram compared the health risk to that of coal dust and asbestos.
She said: “Even with the mitigation measures, there is still going to be a degree of dust. When the wind blows in a certain direction there will be dust on people’s properties and if there is dust on your windows there is dust in your lungs.”
Mr Hutchinson’s wife Jane, who chairs Giffordtown Community Council, thanked the crowd who filled the County Hall in Cupar to support their cause.
She said: “This demolishes any suggestion that opposition to this quarry might be the work of a small handful of agitators.”
Councillors backed a motion to refuse planning permission by Howe of Fife councillor David MacDiarmid on the grounds of cumulative impact with neighbouring quarries, visual impact, proximity to houses, impact on residential amenity from noise and dust, road safety, loss of trees, flood risk, water table issues and lack of proven need.