This is the continuing saga of the proposal by one of Scotland’s few serial polluters – Patersons of Greenoakhill (described as such by the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency) – to establish a giant gravel quarry on the banks of the Upper Clyde.
Campaigners opposed to the proposal are, among a range of powerful arguments, motivated by the fact that it has taken 25 years of constant effort to clean this stretch of the Clyde to its present purity, host to some of the best brown trout in Scotland.
A focal point of the objections is the risk of pollution to the river – and to the salmon spawning beds downstream – through flooding of the gravel pits on the banks.
The recent weather has unequivocally proven the point, with the proposed site of the quarry at Overburns Farm flooded for the last few months – and now frozen over. (Photographs on the Clyde River Action Group (CRAG) website).
South Lanarkshire Council have asked Paterson’s for a further submission which has not yet been submitted. When it is, there will be a short further consultation period.
CRAG is maintaining vigilance, aware that it cannot afford to relax until the issue is settled. Nature has played its part in demonstrating exactly what they have been afraid of in the flooding.
The angling community – including many in Argyll - is holding its breath and the little villages in the area, facing one heavy truck movement every 6-7 minutes through their narrow roads have their fingers tightly crossed.
We’ll keep you posted.
