THE owners of a local quarry want permission to continue working the site for a extra 10 years.

Current planning permission attached to Branshaw Quarry, between Laycock and Oakworth, require any works to the site to end by December 31 2020, and for the site to be restored once this work is complete.

However its owners, Ashlar Stone Products, have now submitted a planning application to amend this permission. If approved they would be allowed to continue working the quarry until December 2030.

The company says stone quarried at the site is used to restore heritage buildings, and there is an “ever increasing demand” for their stone.

The quarry is currently almost six hectares and there has been quarry working on the site in one form or another since 1850.

Six people currently work on site.

Work on quarry site can continue for an extra 18 months

The planning application says: “A 10 year extension of time is required to work the remaining reserves at the quarry and continue the stone processing operations on site.

“The stone products provided by the applicant are of a very high quality, due to the nature of the stone only found at Branshaw and are highly sought after, both locally and throughout the country.

“It is of local and national significance that these stone products are available in terms of employment and the continued availability of a high quality resource.

“The continuation of stone processing operations proposed by this 10 year extension of time will ensure the continuation of supply to meet established demand and job security.

“Ashlar Stone Products Ltd is a long established business within the Bradford region and supplies engineered natural stone products for construction and hard landscaping projects in the new build, refurbishment and conservation sectors.

“There is an important need to protect both the environment and our heritage assets and this consequently leads to an ever increasing demand for natural building materials, particularly in conservation areas.

“It is therefore essential that natural building stone is available for both renovation of existing buildings and construction of new buildings which Branshaw Quarry can supply.”

If approved, the plans would also allow the company to build a new workshop on the site.

And the application also calls for extended hours where work can be carried out inside a cutting shed on the site. Currently planning conditions limit work in the building to between 8am and 6pm on Monday to Friday and 8am to 1pm on Saturday.

The new application asks for permission for these hours to be extended from 7am to 7pm on Monday to Friday.

Restoration work once the quarrying is complete will include the creation of new heathland, which the application says will “greatly increase the overall ecological value of the restored quarry site by including high value habitats in the restoration.”

A decision on the application is expected in July.