Residents raise concerns over noise and pollution from Guernsey's new quarry

ITV Channel reporter Verity Wishart speaks to the residents calling for quiet near the new quarry...

Guernsey residents living near the headland at Chouet say a new quarry site is causing significant disruption due to noise and pollution levels.

The excavation of granite has begun at the new site, the last economically viable location for quarrying on the island.

The company supplying the island's construction materials, Ronez, has finished excavating stone from Les Vardes which has been in operation since 1961.

Plans were passed in October of 2022 for the new site, but concerns were raised by nearby residents before its approval regarding the impact on biodiversity, noise levels, and dust.

Resident Sara Woolland says the noises from the quarry are waking her up at night. Credit: ITV Channel

It's hoped the nine-acre site at Chouet will extract four million tonnes of granite from the headland, which could take up to 40 years.

However, residents like Sara Woolland say they are sleeping on the other side of their house from the quarry to avoid the noise.

Sara explains: "I personally feel it is very loud [...] and quite often I am woken.

"I know our neighbour up there, her house is filled with dust, she is much nearer and told me some things jumped off her shelves

with the blast.

"Certainly when you're in the house, I feel the whole house shake and the windows rattle."

Excavation of granite began at La Chouet (pictured above) after material at Les Vardes began running out. Credit: ITV Channel

Certain conditions were placed on the site by the Development and Planning Authority to address the concerns of nearby residents.

This includes increasing dust traps and agreeing on days and times for blasting and lowering machinery.

Steve Roussell, the General Manager at Ronez, says: "We are conscious of our neighbours [and] I am pretty confident we can work within the conditions we have been given."

"This was the only o

ption to continue producing stone on the island. The only option would be to import the stone which would have a significant cost.

"Importing stone could be 50% more expensive than locally produced stone."

President for Environment & Infrastructure, Deputy Lindsay de Sausmarez has been working with residents to mitigate the impact of the quarry and says she "totally understands and emphasises their concerns".

She adds: "Ultimately the decision the States had to make was a strategic one about keeping quarrying on island.

"Some of it is going to be a question of seeing how things are when the quarry is in operation and there will need to be a certain amount of adaptation."

But some residents say the mitigating conditions don't go far enough.

Chris Howden has been living on Chouet's headland for 20 years and says more needs to be done to protect the land.

He explains: "We don't know how they propose to increase the biodiversity above the original level, I've got a barn owl that lives on my

land - we want to see the whole area compensated for."

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