Whitestown Lower, Co. Wicklow, Ireland

What’s proposed

extend a historic sand and gravel pit at Whitestown Lower, Co. Wicklow, planning reference 7466/82 and planning appeal reference 27/5/58916 and registered as quarry QY16. This former quarry is currently undergoing restoration under planning reference 20/1117 and currently operating under a Waste Facility Permit (WFP) reference WFP-WW-21-0067-01. The proposed development involves extending the historic sand and gravel pit into 7.75 hectares of adjacent agricultural land to the south (site total 11.2 hectares). A four-phased extraction will create a final quarry floor at 143m AOD, with two benches, each ca.10m high with an estimated 1,140762m3 aggregate removal over a period of 18 years with a further 2 years sought for final restoration of the site. The works include topsoil stripping, extraction and processing of sand and gravel via mobile crushing and both dry and wet screening. The existing infrastructure of the WFP, which includes a wheel wash, weighbridge, on-site well, and single-story office (15.21m2), will be utilised. Additional facilities installed on the final pit floor include a mobile wash plant, shed (24m2 by 3.32m hight), oil/water separator, settlement pond (780m2 by 3m deep) for recycling and surface water control and ancillary landscaping /planting and access route. Upon completion of extraction operations, the site will be subject to a restoration plan, which is submitted as part of this application, which includes for inert non-waste soils to be imported to achieve development of agricultural land use. Soils removed in the development of phase 1 will be used to support the restoration of the land within the existing WFP. The Proposed Development will not require any blasting activities. A planning permission of 20 years is being sought for the Proposed Development. The application is accompanied by an Environmental Impact Assessment Report (‘EIAR’), and a Natura Impact Statement (‘NIS’)