Cursiter Quarry extension gets the go-ahead

A proposed extension to Cursiter Quarry is to go ahead, despite its previous refusal by Orkney Islands Council’s planning committee.

This announcement comes from the Scottish Government’s Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA), which has chosen to uphold an appeal over the decision to refuse the extension.

In an an unprecedented step, last year, OIC chose to go against the decision of its own planning committee by using its authority as the applicant to make an official appeal.

Cursiter Quarry is owned and operated by Orkney Islands Council as Orkney Islands Quarries (OIQ), on average extracting approximately 90,000 tonnes of Devonian flagstone per annum, ranging from approximately 75,000 to 120,000 tonnes on an annual basis.

The proposed extension seeks to continue production at similar rates across a phased expansion of the site, producing up to three million tonnes of material, over 30 years of production.

More to follow…