“The reason I decided to move up here, and I don’t know if I can put it nicer…if I was going to die somewhere, I wanted it to be here…”
Victoria Nunn sits next to me in the glow of spring sunshine at Castle Craig near Huntly.
She is one of many residents living in the Rhynie area who are fighting against plans to carve out a quarry in the picturesque countryside.
The site would be 30 acres in size – the same as 15 football pitches – and could be almost 900ft deep.
Leiths (Scotland) wants to create the facility to excavate sand and gravel over the next 22 years, which they say would help them sustain the business amid rising demand.
But the proposal has ignited a deep worry among locals who have made one last ditch attempt to bring the development to a halt.
Days before committee members will dish out the verdict on the plans, I met with those who would be worst impacted by the quarry:
- One mum revealed how the plans could turn her daughter’s life upside down
- Castle owner Andrew Foreman spoke of how this would ruin the tranquillity of the area, leaving his mental health retreat project in tatters
- The widow of the castle’s former owner on her emotional fight against the plans
- And why the community feels “helpless” against the proposals
Cancer survivor: ‘Fumes and dust for us would be a real tragedy’
Victoria fought back tears as she explained why Rhynie was so important to her.
The mum revealed she had a battle with aggressive breast cancer that changed her life.
She is now in the clear, but still lives with the fear it might one day come back.
Victoria made the move to the area from Cambridgeshire with her husband and daughter after falling in love with it while visiting friends.
However, it took them six years to actually get here after facing various struggles – one of which was Victoria’s health.
The family have now been proud to call Rhynie their home for the last three years – and it is somewhere they hope they would live forever.
“If I didn’t recover or my cancer came back, I wanted to be here… Not in the smog and dust of the city,” she tells me.
“We came up here for the fresh air and peace.
“I’ve got asthma as well so the fact that our bedrooms and living room face the road – the fumes and dust for us would be a real tragedy.”
But it isn’t just Victoria in her family who will suffer if the quarry goes ahead.
“My daughter has autism, it took her a long time to settle in our house – it was a big move for her,” she adds.
“The stress of settling was huge and now potentially we are going to go back to having a lot of traffic going past her bedroom window which she’s not used to.
“That worries us a lot.”
‘My daughter would never live a peaceful life if quarry is approved’
Victoria is the key driver behind the community push against the quarry.
After spotting the planning application on Aberdeenshire Council’s website, she quickly started spreading the word to her neighbours.
“They didn’t write to anybody and some people didn’t know about it, even people that are way closer to it than I am,” she revealed.
“We only had a few weeks to get our objections in, the process has been so quick.”
Victoria quickly took action by setting up the ‘Say no to the Craig Quarry‘ Facebook group.
And, she started an online petition that has gathered around 250 signatures in just four days.
“It’s going to destroy the area and my daughter’s future because she’s never going to be able to live the peaceful life that she needs,” the concerned mum added.
Plans to turn Castle Craig into mental health retreat could end up in tatters…
Victoria and other worried residents all gathered at Castle Craig recently to share their concerns about the quarry and how it will impact their lives.
Castle owner Andrew Foreman hosted the event, opening the doors of the historic building to anyone who wanted to vent their frustrations.
Andrew moved to Rhynie from Yorkshire after buying the grand castle back in 2020.
He loves the remoteness of the area, and came here to get away from the “stress and strain” of life.
But, the stress he had hoped to avoid has now been brought to his doorstep thanks to the quarry plan.
Andrew has worked with the NHS over the years, and was inspired to do something to address increasing mental health issues in the region.
He has been pulling a project together that could transform Castle Craig into a place for mental wellbeing and rehabilitation.
The Craig Castle and Woodland Preservation Project would create more than 70 jobs over the next decade if it comes to fruition.
He has been working with different charitable trusts, ex-military personnel and NHS charities on the proposal.
“The mental health and wellbeing benefits of being around this environment are immense,” he said.
Andrew had planned to launch the project later this year but now everything has been put on the back burner.
He bluntly stated: “That’s all going to disappear if this quarry comes because we just won’t be able to do it.”
Quarry operation could harm badgers, squirrels and bats
The castle owner is also worried that potential infill of the quarry in the years to come could create “massive ecological problems”.
And, he also fears the development would harm wildlife in the tranquil area.
“We’ve got red squirrels, eight species of bat have been recorded, badgers, great crested newts.
“We’ve got every type of ecology you could possibly have here which is why it’s a very special place.
“On top of that you’ve got the heritage buildings including the A-listed building we are sat in now, the medieval St Mary’s Kirk which is over 800-years-old with all the war graves and Pictish stones in the area.”
Residents feel ‘helpless’ over Huntly quarry plan
We all gather around a large dining table to allow everyone to speak out and raise their concerns.
Occasionally, a person would interrupt the ongoing chatter with yet another concern.
Residents believe the road leading to and from the quarry is unsuitable for the large lorries that would be travelling back and forth, carrying tonnes of sand and gravel.
They fear the quarry could also disrupt the water ecology in the area and say the negatives far outweigh any benefits to the community.
Overcome with emotion, Victoria laments: “It’s just a case of another small community being destroyed for no good reason.”
Claire Barlas inherited Craig Castle from her late husband, but unfortunately had to sell it due to circumstances beyond her control.
She confessed that the historic site is “powerfully emotional” for her as it holds many memories close to her heart.
While she’s glad Andrew stepped in to take on the castle, she is scared for what the future brings if the quarry is approved.
“The churchyard is about 30ft from the road where these thundering lorries will go by, it’s not suitable for great big trucks.
“Having 10 to 12 lorries a day would be unimaginable – and who’s going to maintain the road when it’s full of potholes?”
‘I saw the quarry would be at my doorstep – and my heart just sank’
I find myself sat next to Steve Miller, who will feel the brunt of the proposed quarry more than others as his home will overlook the entrance of the facility.
He has lived in the area for the last 12 years but admitted he was unaware of the development until it was almost too late.
After he got home from work one night, he got a notification about a public consultation meeting so he headed along an hour later.
But, Steve was met with a very unwelcome sight.
“I walked in, looked at the map and my heart just sank…this quarry is going to be right on my doorstep.
“As individuals we all feel really helpless. Even as a group we feel powerless,” he admitted.
Fear quarry could lead to ‘destruction of homes’ all around
Virgina Irvine-Fortescue is another anxious neighbour, who tells me residents are “all one together” in their bid to save the “special place”.
“We’ve all chosen to live here because it’s the most astonishing place to live,” she said.
“Not only is it unbelievably beautiful, but we are custodians, by living here, of the environment and heritage.
“We are the gateway to the Cabrach and that itself is an extraordinary privilege and we’ve chosen to bring our families up here.”
And she believes the quarry will harm residents further out than people may think.
“It’s not just the immediate community who live immediately on the route, it’s the extended community – Rhynie, Lumsden and possibly Alford…
“They don’t realise this is going to be massive – the traffic, vibration and destruction of all our homes.”
Councillor gives up vote to join fight against Huntly quarry
Councillor Jeff Goodhall is also here at the open-day event.
The Huntly, Strathbogie and Howe of Alford member has recused himself from the quarry debate next week and won’t take part in the discussions or be able to vote.
But why did he do this?
“I looked at the papers and I thought this isn’t a good idea,” he tells me.
“I took soundings from community councils and other organisations in the area, and no one has a good word to say about this development.
“I’m a politician, but most of my job isn’t going to a meeting and deciding on issues, it’s listening to people and doing what they want me to do.”
The councillor has his own concerns about the quarry and its impact on the area.
“I feel very passionately about what they are doing and inflicting on local people,” he adds.
“This is a huge development – it’s going to be nearly 900ft deep, over twice the height of Scotland’s tallest building, the Glasgow Tower.”
What do Leiths say about their plans?
Leiths bosses, however, the quarry would be hugely beneficial and play an essential part in building homes, schools and community hospitals across the region.
They say the Craig Farm area, outside Huntly, has been specifically selected as the “the quality and quantity of asphalt sand found there is unusual for Aberdeenshire”.
The family-run company is one of the main suppliers of building materials in the north, and owns 13 quarries, 10 concrete batching plants and seven asphalt production plants.
These include Blackhills Quarry in Cove and North Lasts Quarry in Peterculter for hard rock, as well as a sand and gravel one in Dyce and, up until recently, in Drumoak.
The latter, however, has now come to the end of its lifespan, with all of its resources exhausted – prompting the company’s search for a new location.
This, they add, would help them meet demand – and council officers recommended the plans for approval without any objections.
Marr area committee members were not convinced and went to visit the site for themselves on Wednesday.
The fate of the quarry will now be decided at their next meeting on Tuesday.
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