AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

Reprieve for Welsh quarry

16th October 1997
Page 10
Page 10, 16th October 1997 — Reprieve for Welsh quarry
Close
Noticed an error?
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.

Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

by Karen Miles • The continued haulage of up to 270,000 tonnes of materials a year from the largest slate quarry in Wales seems assured following part-approval by Gwynedd county council for the site to remain open.

After a year of uncertainty, construction group Alfred McAlpine is confident that this month's agreement from a Gwynedd planning sub-committee will lead to full approval for a 25-year extension to the site's life.

This is due to be granted on 23 October; without it the site would be forced to close in three to five years.

Objectors to the extension cited noise and dust from the site, as well as its proximity to the Snowdonia National Park.

Every year owner-drivers and other contractors haul some 20,000 tonnes of aggregates and up to 250,000 tonnes of slate from the site; about 10 of the owner drivers run in McAlpine livery.

However, under the new regime it is expected that operators will be required to wash their wheels and sheet their aggregates when they leave the 3,000acre site.

Harry Owen, owner of 13-vehicle HF Owen Transport, based at Caernarfon, says the council's decision is "excellent news for the area" and that a refusal would have affected many hauliers. About 20% of his work is generated by the quarry. "I didn't think it would close because too much employment is based on it," he says.

Tags


comments powered by Disqus