Responding to feedback after quarry exhibition

Quarry operators say they are taking steps to reassure residents over an extension that will take mining nearer to homes and businesses.

After a public consultation exhibition, Saint-Gobain Formula, which operates the Bantycock gypsum open-cast quarry, said it was responding to and addressing feedback about the next phase of its work, which will take the quarry to within 300 metres of properties at Fernwood.

The company employs about 150 people at the quarry and associated factory site and already has permission to extend its operations.

It mines gypsum for the production of high-quality plaster products used in, for example, ceramics, the food industry, brewing, decorative work, and dentistry.

The seams of gypsum are quite near the surface, but residents have reported being able to feel the force of the blasting.

Saint-Gobain Formula has already said it will reduce the force of its blasting.

It said its work would be strictly regulated. The results of blasting are monitored by the county council.

The firm’s public exhibition, held at Fernwood Village Hall earlier this month, presented detailed plans of the next phases of extraction; and how the land would be restored once work was complete.

The event precedes the submission of an application to the Mineral Planning Authority (Nottinghamshire County Council) on how the new phasing of quarrying will be managed.

The exhibition was well attended.

Representatives of Saint-Gobain Formula and its sister company, British Gypsum, attended to explain the plans and answer questions.

Concerns raised by residents included whether the blasting would cause structural or cosmetic damage, loss of value to properties, higher insurance premiums, noise, dust and increased traffic.

As a result of feedback, Saint-Gobain Formula said the following steps were being implemented:

• Establishment of a community liaison committee comprising company and local council representatives, as well as the county council and local residents’ association. This will provide an ongoing forum for two-way communication between the quarry operator and the local community.

• A commitment to undertake blast-ground vibration and air over- pressure monitoring at several properties. Air overpressure is air vibration from a blast that can often be felt, but Saint-Gobain Formula says is not damaging.
• Offering some residents the opportunity to visit the quarry to view the scale of the operation, to see blasting in action and how blast-monitoring equipment works.
• Reviewing the Environmental Impact Assessment that supports the application to the county council to ensure it is as robust as possible in terms of information on blasting.
• Plan to propose to the council installation of noise and dust monitoring equipment at additional locations.
• Further review details of the restoration scheme in the context of the local area.

Mr Matt O’Sullivan, Saint-Gobain Formula plant manager at Bantycock, said: “We are pleased the public consultation event was so well attended.

“It is important that we are open, engage with our neighbours and discuss any questions they have around our future working at Bantycock Quarry.

“Our teams are working closely with local residents.

“Meanwhile, we are looking to incorporate their feedback to review our plans before submitting a detailed proposal to Nottinghamshire County Council.”

Bantycock covers 225 hectares and the deepest excavations are 43 metres below ground level.

Operations can continue until 2027, after which, the site must be restored by 2029.

Around 300,000 tonnes of gypsum were quarried from Bantycock in 2017.