Quarry excavation could see up to 40 HGV movements every day for eight years

The excavation of Nearcliff Quarry in Conisbrough, will see up to 40 HGV movements a day (20 inbound and 20 outbound) for the next eight years.

Doncaster Council planning committee members gave permission for the reclamation of the quarry, which will include the removal of “approximately 828,000 tonnes of limestone waste from the quarry floor and benches, and the excavation of approximately 200,000 tonnes of virgin limestone from the quarry faces”.

According to a report presented to a committee meeting on June 30, 2026, it will equate to roughly being removed every week for the eight-year period, with an HGV arriving at or leaving the site every 12-15 minutes each 8.5 hour working day.

The report states this is something the council’s highways team “consider to be an acceptable intensity of traffic that does not amount to a severe residual cumulative impact on the highway network”.

Joan Jackson, a resident who spoke to the committee in opposition to the plans, raised concerns about potential dangers on the A630, which HGVs will exit the quarry on to.

“It’s a dreadful junction,” she told city councillors on the panel.

“It’s so, so dangerous. There are so many aspects of road safety that need to be considered,” she added.

Ms Jackson said there were regular issues with anti-social behaviour at the quarry site, with off-road bikers damaging the surrounding woodland, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), and stolen cars being driven onto the site and set alight.

She said security at the quarry would need to be a particular focus.

“I know the police do an awful lot of work trying to contain anti-social behaviour. I know they do their best, but they can’t be there all day, every day,” she said.

“If people want to get in, they will get in… Eight years to clear the quarry floor. How are we going to secure the site permanently?”

Ms Jackson’s concerns led committee members to seek assurance from the applicant, Chris Ballam, that the site’s security would be up to the task.

Mr Ballam said the site is regularly used by motorbikes and people travel great distances for meets arranged at the quarry, without the landowners permission.

However, he said: “This will not stop until we remove the attraction. In short, the locality need this to be done.”

The committee heard there would be 24/7 security on site, with CCTV across the quarry and personnel on site, but “we would need a whole army to prevent unauthorised access”.