The energetic Clyde River Action Group (CRAG) have had SNH come down on their side in opposition to the application by Paterson’s of Greenoakhill (named and shamed by SEPA as a persistant polluter) to construct a massive sand and gravel quarry on the banks of the Upper Clyde.

CRAG has also recruited high profile support from Griff Rhys Jones, the television presenter whose recent series on British Rivers began with his canoe voyages down some of Scotland’s great rivers – accompanied by his brown Labrador, Cadbury.

The proposal threatens angling in that stretch of the Upper Clyde legendary for great brown trout – and the salmon spawning beds further downstream. It also threatens to degrade the amenity of the area and it will undermine life in the little villages in the area who will see one large gravel truck come through every five minutes on the way to the main trunk road.

SNH has asked the planning authorities to defer consideration of the application until some major information on the applicant’s proposed measures to ensure the protection of local species is available. SNH feels that this issue has not yet been adequately addressed and that any decision taken without such information would not be properly informed.

Griff Rhys Jones has said: ‘This quarry sounds horrendous. The value of the landscape, its beauty, its amenity, its spiritual qualities are far, far more important than its commercial value’. He suggests: ‘Perhaps this gives you (CRAG) the opportunity to counter the developer’s claims with an economic loss projection of your own’.

Preparing such projections costs time and money – as does the entire protest – on which we have publshed several articles.

CRAG has two lively fund raising and consciousness-raising events coming up, desinged to support the effectiveness of the campaign:

• Saturday 7th November 2009: The CRAG Ceilidh and Rock Night (with CRAG Ceilidh band, Tuesday’s Gone and The Chancers, a Blues Brothers tribute band. The event is in the Coulter Hall, Coulter from 7:30pm – 11.30pm. Tickets £10. Tickets available from Atkinson-Pryce Books shop in Biggar and on the door. All proceeds go to CRAG.
• CRAG Children’s Art Competition – Theme: ‘The beautiful Clyde’. Closing date 5pm on Friday 6th November.
  What CRAG are looking for here is: ‘An expressive piece of artwork exploring the natural beauty and wildlife of the Upper Clyde Valley’. and the competition is open to all children of primary school age in the Upper Clyde Valley.

Entry to the competition is free and entries should be sent to Atkinson-Pryce Books at 27 High St., Biggar.

Entries will be displayed and prizes presented at the opening of the award winning photographer, Simon Butterworth’s Landscapes of Scotland exhibition at the Gillespie Centre, High Street, Biggar on 14th November. The entries will be on view from 2.00pm-8.00pm with:

• Prizegiving at 5.00pm
• Refreshments from 6.00pm

Full details of CRAG’s formal objection to the application, of SNH’s letter to South Lanarkshire Council and of Griff Rhys Jones’ letter – and of the Children’s Art Competition – are on the news page of the CRAG website.

Related Posts

• Upper Clyde’s Lamington Quarry campaign maintains its guard (0)
• Flooding flags opposition case on Upper Clyde proposed gravel quarry (0)
• Powerful objections to proposed Lamington Quarry as Clyde overflows (0)
• Anglers gear up for action as Paterson’s planning application for upper Clyde quarry goes in (3)
• No catch and release in Clyde River Action Group’s campaign against Lamington Quarry (2)

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