North Yorkshire gravel and sand quarry approved

Plans for a quarry as large as 30 football pitches near a national park have been approved.

Up to 90,000 tonnes of sand and gravel a year will be removed at the site in Seamer in North Yorkshire.

The development received a small number of objections over the potential impact it could have on the landscape, economy, traffic and noise.

It was passed unanimously, although some councillors questioned why the site was not in the area minerals plan.

The document, adopted in February, was developed with City of York Council and the North York Moors National Park Authority and guides where quarries can be sited.

One elected member likened the proposal to "driving a coach and horses" through the plan.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, plans for the site on part of Raincliffe Grange Farm, on Main Street, would see sand and gravel extracted over a nine-year period, and then be restored.

The quarry lies 1.9 miles (3km) outside the North York Moors National Park. One objector said the development would bring "no benefits for anyone in Seamer village".

"Seamer has improved ever since the A64 bypass and this could undermine business confidence investing in the village," they said.

The company behind the quarry, W Clifford Watts Limited, said it would route most lorries south onto the B1261 before joining the A64.

It is also planned to limit weekday working hours to between 06:30 and 17:00 and from 07:00 to 12:00 on Saturdays.

A spokesman for the firm told the meeting it had not been able to find the right quality sand and gravel elsewhere in the eastern part of North Yorkshire, leading to it importing materials from 60 miles away at Nosterfield, near Masham.

An environmental statement lodged with the scheme suggestedthere would be a loss of some locally-important archaeological resources.

However, recommending the scheme be approved, planning officers concluded the impacts would be mitigated by extensive archaeological research to understand the significance of the site.

Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk.