THE owners of a District quarry have been given an extra decade to work and restore the site - despite objections from the local Parish Council.

It means that Hallas Rough Quarry in Cullingworth, more commonly known as The Flappits, will now not be fully restored until 2038.

The quarry has been a major source of building materials for the area in the past, but for the past 11 years there has been hardly any quarrying work done on the site, and for a time it was more regularly used for off road biking.

The current planning permission for the site includes a condition that all work is completed and the site restored by 2028.

The quarry has changed hands in recent years, and earlier this year two new applications, by Flappit Tipping and Recycling, were submitted to Bradford Council.

One sought permission to extract the last remaining stone from the site. The other was to change the planning conditions, allowing the company to push back the full restoration of the land until 2038.

Both applications have now been approved. This approval came despite Cullingworth Parish Council describing an extra 17 years of work at the site being "unacceptable."

Work to restore the site is likely to require around 2 million tonnes of "construction and demolition" waste being brought onto the site to fill the quarry.

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The company's application said this waste would be brought onto site by HGVs, with an average of 38 vehicles coming into and out of the site each day. There would be a maximum of 55 HGVs coming in and out per day.

A quarter of the site would be restored within 18 months.

A statement from the Parish Council said: "If this extension were successful there could be over 100 lorry movements per day for many years to come.

"Mud, dirt or debris will be carried onto the highway over the years the quarry is in operation.

"Cullingworth Village council feels this extension application should be refused as the time frame of 17 years is unacceptable, and would inevitably give rise to an unacceptable, adverse impact on people and the environment.

"Previous history of this site raises concerns further extensions would continue to be applied for in the future."

Planning officers at Bradford Council pointed out that the stone from the quarry was important in repairs of heritage buildings as well as new builds.

They said the work "would continue to help supply such key materials for new built development in the surrounding area, for repair of existing buildings and historic buildings of merit, and supply aggregates (in particular building sand) which is in very short supply."

Referring to the filling of the quarry, officers said: "The landfilling is necessary in order to make the site less attractive to off-road users."

Addressing the concerns of the Parish Council, officers pointed out that if the application was refused and the 2028 restoration timetable kept, the same amount of material would still need to be brought on the site - only in a seven year period rather than the 17 year period sought by the applicants.

They said: "There would need to be a significant increase in HGV movements to achieve restoration in the remaining timeframe, which Highways are highly unlikely to support. Additionally, the applicant would have to source suitable material in a very short timescale, which is unlikely to be feasible and/or viable."

The applications were approved, and require the site to be restored by August 31 2038.

One condition is that vehicles can only enter or leave the site between 7.30am and 6pm Monday to Friday and 7.30am to 1pm on Saturday.