A Scots homeowner has told of her devastation over colossal quarry works that have begun around 400 yards from her tranquil countryside house. Animal-lover Ali Mitchell, who is a riding instructor, said despite promises to the contrary, the works had already wreaked havoc by disrupting her water supplies and spooking her horses – causing one rider to get injured.
The massive Dareduff Hill Quarry works, approved by councillors in 2022 could see an astonishing 100 trucks A DAY pass through quiet Neilston at its peak as 2.35MILLION tons of hard rock are extracted from the quarry over the next ten years. Heartbroken Ali, who bought her dream home in a farm just outside Neilston, East Renfrewshire after moving from Bishopbriggs 13 years ago, told the Record: “This place is off the beaten track and I bought it because you can’t see the horses from the road.
“It’s complete tranquility. This was my safe haven. The dogs can just be out here, I’m safe here, the horses are safe and we have loads of wildlife.
“I’m here on my own with ten horses and a couple of dogs. It was my dream to put my roots down and grow old here… now I don’t know what I’ll do.”
She hit out at local politicians, councils and contractors Advance Construction who she claims have all ignored her repeated pleas. The quarry area falls into the boundaries of East Ayrshire Council, while Ali’s home lies within the East Renfrewshire council area.
Ali told the Record part of the planning agreement carried conditions that her private water supply would be protected – but already, she says, it has been affected. She said: “It’s basically an ancient spring out of the ground, where you won’t get any planning that says where it comes from, because nobody knows – but it’s been here for as long as this building has been up, for hundreds of years.
“The water goes naturally into a tank that’s in the ground. This farm used to be a dairy farm, so it supplied this whole place with water. And it’s never been a drama. I only ran out of water once years ago when we had a big drought. It all works fine, it’s dead old-fashioned but I’ve never wanted to or had to change it.
“So while this proposal was going on, I had contacted MPs. I contacted Planning and everyone has ignored me, nobody’s done anything. On the back of that, both East Renfrewshire Council and East Ayrshire Council are going to get 7p a ton from the aggregate that’s taken out of this quarry, so there’s money involved for the councils too.”
She added: “They’ve now started the digging. I wasn’t informed about it at all.
“Part of the concessions that were approved in the planning stage was that the water at this farm [West Carswell Farm] had to be sorted, and that West Carswell was either to be connected to the mains or some other solution. But nothing’s happened.”
Ali said plumbing experts believe disturbance to the ground from the launch of the quarry works may have put “muck” in the water with the silt clogging old pipes. She added: “There’s water in the tank… but there’s no water getting to my property.”
Ali says she never thought the quarry would actually go ahead given the huge pressures it will bring to traffic in the village and surrounding areas. And she claims planning documents paved the way for the massive quarry to be green-lit by incorrectly stating there was no livestock and no businesses or leisure sites nearby.
Ali, who runs an equestrian stable and livery service including indoor and outdoor yards, continued: “I’m a riding instructor and there’s been horses here since before I bought the place, and I’ve been here 13 years.” Even at this early stage, she reports that the noise and ground rumblings are worrying her animals – with one accident already having been caused by a horse taking fright.
She said: “One of my ladies that keeps her horses here, there was a lot of noise coming from the digging of the quarry and her horse got spooked and flattened her.”
Ali added: “I’m just one person, and I’m aware that there’s a very huge likelihood I am not going to stop this quarry… But even if it doesn’t save it for me – because my property is going to be worth hee-haw now – people don’t know that this is happening and they need to know.”
East Ayrshire and East Renfrewshire councils and Advance Construction Scotland were all approached for comment.
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