Goathill Quarry plans major expansion and asphalt plant

Collier Quarrying and Recycling Ltd has lodged a formal Proposal of Application Notice through consultants AMS Associates, flagging that a new Environmental Impact Assessment application is being drawn up for the quarry at Easter Bucklyvie, between Crossgates and Cowdenbeath.

The company wants to extend the life of the existing operation, increase the depth of excavation and boost the maximum output it can take from the 63‑hectare site.

The plans also seek to push the working area further east by extending the quarry boundary, install and run an asphalt plant within the quarry and increase the height of stockpiles on site.

An acoustic bund and water settlement ponds that have already been formed would be brought into the permission retrospectively as part of the same package.

According to the planning documents, the major application will roll together a series of existing consents – including permission granted in April 2023 under reference 19/03702/EIA – into a single composite bid.

Within that overall 63‑hectare area, around 28.5 hectares are currently worked as a surface extraction void, with ongoing stone extraction, processing of incinerator bottom ash into aggregate and the import of inert soils for recycling and restoration.

The papers also point to work already carried out away from the quarry floor: areas have been seeded to grass, around 10,000 trees have been planted and land at the entrance is presently being used for sheep grazing, ahead of a longer‑term plan to profile and infill the extraction void with inert material.

The latest move comes after the Times reported in January that a local resident had raised concerns about possible groundwater contamination linked to incinerator bottom ash at Goathill, and after environmental reports and regulatory inspections prompted questions over how closely the site was being watched.

Regulators and the council said then that identified non‑compliances had been rectified and that monitoring and joint regulation were ongoing.

Now Fife Council has accepted the new Proposal of Application Notice and confirmed that the scheme will be treated as a major development under planning rules.

The notice was received on March 10, and planners have told the applicant that June 2 is the earliest date a full planning application can be lodged, after the minimum 12‑week pre‑application period.

Before that happens, the operator is expected to set out its case directly to local residents.

Two public drop‑in events are planned for Crossgates Community Hall on June 13 and 27, running from 3pm to 7pm on each date, where information boards are due to be displayed and representatives of Collier Quarrying and Recycling Ltd, AMS Associates and specialist consultants will be available.

The sessions are due to be advertised in the local press, and Crossgates and Aberdour community councils have been notified and invited to attend.

After the June events, the company will have to submit a detailed pre‑application consultation report alongside its planning bid, setting out who was consulted, when meetings took place, what views were expressed and whether any changes were made to the proposals in response.

Fife Council has also encouraged the use of early discussions and a formal processing agreement to pin down the information required and the likely timetable for deciding what happens next at Goathill Quarry.