Quarry quarrel: Opposition to plans to infill a Longford 'biodiversity hotspot'

An environmental charity has said it is opposed to plans to infill a former north Longford quarry.

Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) argue that the quarry void, located at The Rocks, Derrycassan, has become a naturally regenerated wet woodland “biodiversity hotspot”, delivering free flood storage, wildlife habitat and climate benefits.​

Read more: Longford Lights! Crowds! Action! How to plan a visit for the iconic festival

In a comprehensive submission to Longford County Council, they warned that plans to “reinstate” the quarry would destroy a site that has quietly become a rare pocket of semi‑natural habitat in an intensively farmed landscape that should be protected, not filled in.​

A planning application was lodged by Enda and Caroline Harten with the local authority on January 16 last for the 'reinstatement of a portion of a worked-out quarry to prevent further land slips on an adjoining field'.

The area to be covered is circa 1.21 hectares and the application states that it is 'intended to import 100,000 tonnes of inert soil and stone and C&D materials for internal haul roads'.

According to the planning application, it is expected that works will be carried out over a five-year period and this includes all ancillary site works and services at The Rocks, Derrycassan.

Submissions in relation to the proposed development can be made to the planning authority up until this Thursday, February 19 and the decision due date is listed as March 12 next.

In their 17‑ page submission, Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) state that clearing and infilling the site would amount to the avoidable destruction of an existing wet woodland and scrub habitat and would run directly against Longford County Council’s own newly adopted Biodiversity Action Plan, the National Planning Framework and Ireland’s 4th National Biodiversity Action Plan.

Read more: Immediate 'emergency payment' as Longford disabled campaigners to protest in Dublin

While the quarry is not a designated European conservation site, FIE says it is exactly the kind of spontaneously developed nature area that national and local policy now seek to retain in the wider countryside, particularly where surrounding land is intensively managed grassland as is the case here.