Defra targets quarries
02 October 2005
(NFU Countryside Magazine, July 2005):
The Government has earmarked almost £30m to address problems linked to quarrying in the countryside.
Defra has announced the money will be used to reduce the imapct of aggregate extraction on local communities and protected landscapes. It also hopes to lessen the need for quarrying in National Parks.
Ministers claim the funding will provide a range of benefits - from increasing the amount of construction and demolition waste that is recycled, to restoring derelict quarries.
Plans to asses the viability of offshore aggregate extraction could lead to a reduction in the number of lorries transporting stone in rural areas.