Concerns raised over re-opening of Dean Quarry

Local residents are voicing their concerns over the plan to re-open Dean Quarry in fear that it would ruin the stretch of the Cornish coastline.

Developers of the Government-backed project Swansea Bay tidal lagoon plan to re-open Dean Quarry near St Keverne in Cornwall to provide rock for the construction of the sea wall for the tidal lagoon.

Dean Quarry has been closed since 2008, and the residents in the surrounding area fear that its re-opening might disturb their quality of life.

Local campaign group Community Against Dean Quarry fear that the plans will irrevocably change the local area causing harm to the tourism sector, while exposing the residents to the noise caused by the blasts in the quarry.

A planning application will be submitted to enable the transport of rock by sea. It will include the construction of two jetties and a protective breakwater.

“We’ve got two choices of taking the rock away. We can, under the existing permission, take the rock out by road starting from next week. What we would like to do, is take it out by ship because no one will see it and no one will hear it,” Mark Shorrock, chief executive of both Shire Oak Energy and Tidal Lagoon Power, was quoted as saying by the Telegraph.

“Shipping the rock presents the shortest, safest and quickest option. Independent and expert analysis has shown that this approach would ensure that an operational Dean Quarry is a good neighbour to the local community and a good neighbour to the natural environment,” it is stated on the Shire Oaks Dean Quarry website.

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Image: CADS