A FRUSTRATED resident in Yate says he is tired of dealing with large clouds of dust caused by Barnhill Quarry.

John Moore, a pensioner who lives on Wiltshire Avenue, has been struggling with the effects of the quarry dust since he moved into his home in 1978. 

He said that the dust makes it difficult for residents to dry clothes outside, or to keep the outside of their houses clean and tidy. 

“When the dust is at its worst, you could wash your windows and within 20 minutes they would be covered in dust again,” he said.

“It doesn’t just affect the residents living next to the quarry either, people have told me that the dust carries all the way throughout the estate.

“It makes you wonder how it’s been affecting everyone’s health over the years – who knows what it’s been doing to people’s lungs?”

Around one year ago, the council issued the owners of the quarry, Hanson Aggregates, with conditions that were intended to tackle the problem.

These included using water sprinklers regularly and not stockpiling excess material near resident’s houses. 

Recently however, Hanson has been caught breaching some of the conditions, causing large clouds of dust to descend on nearby homes.

Cllr Chris Willmore (Yate North) has been speaking to residents about their concerns, and is now urging the quarry to take action.

“If the quarry owners use the water sprinklers correctly then residents should not experience a dust problem,” she said.

“The conditions on the quarry don’t cause the owners any problems.

They were ones the quarry owners said they could cope with, without affecting their business, and they are important to local residents.”

She added: “We are 30 years into the saga. It is miles better than 30 years ago, when I could wipe quarry dust from my window sills over a mile away, but there are still problems.”

But according to John, not enough is being done to minimise disruption.
He said that residents are frequently disturbed by loud crashes from the site, and believes that the water sprinklers are not being used regularly enough to have an effect.

He said: “They should move the stockpiles further into the quarry, that’s the real solution here.”

David Weeks, a spokesman for the quarry, confirmed that a breach had taken place in April this year, but said that it was “temporary and quickly dealt with”.

He said: “We had a visit from South Gloucestershire Council and they said they were happy with our set up.

“We are in the process of moving the stock piles and this will hopefully be complete by the end of the year. There may be some disruption while we do this.”

South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) is asking residents to log any problems they have with dust. 

A spokesman said: “In response to issues being raised recently we have been to the quarry to discuss them and to reaffirm the operators’ responsibilities. 

"While we are satisfied that they have taken appropriate action at this time, should residents have further issues we encourage them to let us know and, as required, we will take further action."

Residents can contact SGC by sending an email to environmental.protection@southglos.gov.uk or by notifying them online.