QUARRY works could come within 15 metres of a protected environmental area if a proposal to extend them is approved.

Brenedon Southern Ltd has submitted a scoping review of Graig Quarry, its 28 hectare open pit in Denbigh, to Denbighshire County Council’s planning committee.

The construction materials supplier wants to continue its extraction of about 200,000 tonnes of limestone annually for the next 27 years. However the existing site, off Graig Road to the west of the Colomendy Industrial Estate, has six years of saleable limestone extraction remaining.

The proposed extended area of five hectares of arable land to the north of the site would enable it to mine a further 5.4 million saleable tonnes over the period.

Brenedon Southern Ltd, headquartered in Leicestershire, owns 80 quarries in the UK and sells its limestone as aggregate. Its mining process involves drilling and controlled blasting to gather large amounts of rock, from which ore is extracted and processed at its onsite plant.

The extension plan at the Denbigh quarry would maintain the existing nine onsite jobs.

The firm’s review was sent to the council to obtain a scoping opinion, which identifies what would be included in an Environmental Impact Assessment when a planning application is made.

Land to the north, west and south of the proposed extension site is predominantly agricultural fields and woodland, including ancient woodland. Craig Mawr Wood, to the north, is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, of which the extension would come within 15 metres.

The extended works have the potential to generate particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) and dust which may give rise to risk of health due to increased exposure to residents in nearby properties.

The proposal includes environmental measures to restore the existing northern end of the quarry from 2022. The firm would import up to 100,000 tonnes of inert waste and create a Priority Habitat of calcareous grassland along the quarry floor. It would also plant trees, as well as shrubs on blasted areas.

Mark Walters, council development control archaeologist, said in response to the scoping review that the authority would need to carry out a geophysical survey to better understand the extension plot and the impact that the work would have.