Quarry looking to expand at expense of motorcyclists

An Isle of Wight quarry is looking to expand its sand extraction operations by creating a new one — at a space sometimes used by motorcyclists.

Haslett Farm has been extracting sand from the Shorwell countryside for decades but could run out of material in the next 18 months.

A new two-hectare quarry could be opened up at Shorwell Sand Pit, further down Presford Shute, and produce approximately 6,000 tonnes of mineral resources a year, over the next 20 years.

Plans says it could retain the supply of minerals which is required on the Island and without it the sand would have to be imported from the mainland, likely reducing the number of local jobs.

The site is in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty but also in the Minerals Safeguarding Area as designated by the Isle of Wight Council.

Once all the quarry works cease at the site, it could be restored and allowed to recolonise naturally, returning to natural grassland.

The proposed new site of the quarry has been privately used as an informal motorbike track occasionally since 2017.

The quarry could be in operation from Monday to Friday, 7am to 6pm, and Saturdays, 7am to 1pm.

While it may be a new quarry within the farm site, there would be no intensification of operations, plans have said, as the materials would be screened using equipment at the existing quarry and transported along existing roads.

The operations at the new quarry could start once the sand is exhausted at the existing one.

You can view the plans, 24/00235/FUL, on the Isle of Wight Council’s planning register. Comments can be made until March 22.