Council / Scord Quarry extension could enable realignment of main road – but only years down the line
PLANS have gone on show for an extension of the Scord Quarry – but roads officials say a proposed realignment of the A970 to bypass the hairpin bend would be decades away.
Shetland Islands Council (SIC) is proposing to extend the quarry at its north east side by nearly five hectares.
Although it does not form part of this extension, the SIC has included a proposal that the A970 could eventually be realigned to remove the hairpin bend as the road drops towards Scalloway.
The council said the existing line of the road would remain in place to “facilitate local access and access to the viewpoint”.
But SIC roads manager Neil Hutcheson said it would be at least two decades before this could be progressed.
“The proposed extension should provide roadstone for another 20 years if it is extracted at the same rate as it is being currently,” he said.
“Therefore, it will be at least 20 years before we can progress the re-alignment of the A970.”
The SIC is currently consulting on the extension plans, with a public meeting held on Monday at the Scalloway Hall and another planned for 2 March between 3pm and 8pm.
Documents are also able to be viewed online.
Hutcheson said 13 people attended the event on Monday, three of whom were concerned with how the extension would affect the skyline as seen from Scalloway.
“In addition to this there were comments regarding the loss of shelter for Scalloway from north-easterly gales,” he added.
“There were also discussions regarding noise, vibration and dust from the quarry and agreement that this has improved over the years and is now much less of an issue.”
A summary document says the extension is required as reserves within the existing quarry boundary are limited given current production rates.
The quarry floor will remain in use for storage of crushed aggregates and the existing, static crushing, screening, mixing and bitumen storage plant will remain at their current locations throughout the period of the extension.
The council said the extension will meet the requirements of the Shetland community for coated roadstone products for the next 15 years, such as asphalt and bitmac.
Regarding a possible realignment of the A970 on the approach to Scalloway, which would be subject to a separate planning application in the future, the document notes that the bend at the top of the Scord is “very sharp”.
It adds that the realignment of the road would not be possible without undertaking a “major rock cutting” through Outnabreck Hill.
“Under normal circumstances the costs of this major cutting could not be justified,” it continues.
“By designing the extension to the quarry to be sympathetic to the requirements of the road proposal the future improvement of the road’s alignment becomes viable.”
Some concerns have also been expressed by the community about the junctions of the A970 with the Tingwall valley and East Voe, the council added.
But the SIC said the roads service has taken these concerns into account and designed a new alignment through the existing quarry that would also facilitate the eventual improvements to these junctions, “should the council prioritise them in the future”.
The SIC said that under the extension plans the proposal is to create new quarry faces which will be 15 metre benches – not 20 metre as they currently are.
“As part of the proposal the quarry faces in the current site will be cut back and regraded and integrated with the new quarry works in the extension area,” the document said.
“This will change the current skyline and create a deep notch through which it is proposed to site the realigned A970.”
Quarrying has been taking place at the Scord since 1932, and current production is more than 100,000 tonnes a year- mainly due to the number of construction projects underway in Shetland.
The SIC said this level of production is likely to continue for a number of years to due to more planned development, particularly in the energy sector. The majority of the stone is crushed for road aggregate.
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