Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay Conservative Councillor Dave Dempsey has called rapid and robust action to ensure that Goathill Quarry near Mossmorran complies with all the conditions placed on its operation.
Cllr Dempsey said “For quite some time, concerned members of the public have reported alarming instances where the quarry appeared to breach rules and regulations regarding the handling of material, both with in the site and out into the environment. The Cullaloe Hills to the immediate south of the quarry are a valued area of woodland and biodiversity.
“Until recently, it wasn’t possible to verify whether these reports, alarming as the photos looked, actually involved breaches of the rules. However, in March this year, Fife Council released a check list of those conditions that can be assessed so far. There are 29 in all – 9 ‘In Compliance’, 3 ‘in Partial Compliance’ and no less than 20 ‘Not in Compliance’.
Worse than that, the ‘In Compliance’ items tend to cover relatively superficial matters such as working hours and the non-display of advertisements, whereas the ‘Not in Compliance’ list raises all manner of questions about what exactly is and has been going on. Examples include material extracted that shouldn’t have been, trees chopped down that shouldn’t have been, required restoration work not done, checks on local wildlife not carried out, etc, etc.
A lot of required monitoring data has not been delivered, adding weight to fears that material blowing from the site or leaching into nearby streams could be seriously harmful to health.
All this would be bad enough if the site was simply a quarry, extracting what was already there, but it’s also a transit point for various materials, including ash from waste incinerators, which could introduce all manner of other material. There’s supposed to be testing for cyanide, arsenic and many more chemicals but it’s not clear in the report whether this has been carried out correctly.
Often, the enforcement of planning conditions gives the offender time to rectify the fault or negotiate a variation. However, this case requires rapid and robust enforcement to ensure public confidence and safety. I know that Fife Council has a plan and I look forward to hearing that it’s been implemented asap.
ENDS
Note : the report, Goathill Quarry Planning Compliance Checklist, is at https://planning.fife.gov.uk/online/files/190D2DD417B97AFE1D873A15C4B384C1/pdf/19_03702_EIA-PLANNING_CONDITIONS_MONITORING_REPORT_-_DECEMBER_2025-4315131.pdf
The main planning application is 19/03702/EIA. There’s a fuller description on page 2 of the report.