A QUARRY which hasn’t been operational for more than 20 years could be reopened to source 50,000 tonnes of stone for a 10-year forest road programme.
Natural Resources Wales wants to restart quarrying at Howick Quarry near St Arvans on the B4293 Itton Road, as part of its plan to upgrade and maintain woodland tracks in the Wye Valley and Wentwood Forest.
Monmouthshire County Council has ruled that the proposal will require an environmental impact assesment with any planning application to extend the existing quarry.
The quarry stands in woodland in the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and has been used over the last two decades for the deposit of earthworks.
A report to the council’s planning department says the 10-year programme would involve harvesting commercial timber as well as the clearance of trees affected by disease and replanting, and the forest road network needed upgrading and expanding to allow it.
The actual quarrying and crushing of 5,000 tonnes a year of stone would cover a two-week period, it says, with materials then removed from the site as and when required.
HGV movements would take place between 8am and 4pm, it added.