Quarry granted approval in the Slieve Bloom Mountains

A quarry operator has been granted planning permission to extract 800,000 tonnes of sand and gravel from a site in the Slieve Bloom Mountains. 

Breedon Materials Limited (trading as Breedon Ireland) has been granted a ten year licence to extract sand and gravel from an eight hectare site in the townlands of Mountall and Cummer in Camross in the Slieve Blooms.  Laois County Council approved the plans subject to 17 conditions.

The planning permission was granted despite being opposed by a number of local groups including the Slieve Bloom Association, Camross Tidy Towns, Paddock National School, Mountrath Scout Group and Ballyfin CDA. In all the planning application attracted over 60 submissions. 

The application site is located within the townlands of Mounthall and Cummer, Camross, Co. Laois, approximately 3.5 km from the Laois / Offaly county border on the southeastern flanks of the Slieve Bloom mountains and c. 3km north of Camross village 9km northwest of Mountrath and 18km west of Portlaoise. 

Paddock NS stated that it is located along the proposed haul route where 80,000 tonnes of material would be transported each year. 

“Our school community has specific objections to a proposed sand and gravel pit due to concerns about the well-being of our students, staff, and the surrounding educational environment,” they stated in their submission. 

Mountrath Cllr James Kelly argued that the local road network was not capable of taking such heavy traffic. 

“The local road network, including L10317, L1031 and L1030 feeding to and from the R440 are at the moment not fit for the current road users, example being the one lane Lacca Metal Bridge over the Delour River and especially the 80,000 tonnes of sand and gravel to be extracted per annum, a minimum total of 24 daily Heavy Goods Vehicle trips and 12 daily Light Vehicle trips. The Local Authority would have to invest heavily on upgrading the local road network and the LCC Budget 2025 has not allowed for these works,” he stated in his submission. 

“In the Cummer/Mounthall townlands Camross there are a number of local residents who are in close proximity to the proposed site and none more so that an 84 years old Mother who resides with her 52 years old disabled daughter and their house will be only 72 metres away from the proposed works,” he said. 

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Cllr Kelly said acoustic fencing would “will not remove the effect of over looking, visual intrusion, noise, disturbance, dust, heavy goods vehicles and smell.”

“The Glendine Road leading up to the JJ Fanning Pass is in constant use by pedestrians, hill climbers, cyclists, tourists, scout groups and motorhomes. I object to the addition of all extra vehicles using the proposed application as it will definitely lead to road safety issues in a very rural area,” he said. 

“There is a need to safeguard our valuable resources such as the Slieve Bloom Mountains, good farmland and mineral resources such as water etc. This proposed development will compromise these resources,” he added. 

Despite local objections, Laois County Council approved the development subject to 17 conditions. The quarry can now be used for 10 years on condition it is restored after ten years of use. 

An Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR) and Natura Impact Assessment (NIS) was submitted with the application.