Campaigners say New Lanark quarry could be a death trap

The allegation comes from Save Our Landscapes, the group campaigning against the extension to Hyndford Quarry as decision day approaches for the scheme being granted or refused planning permission by South Lanarkshire Council.

With the October decision looming, SOL has upped its case by adding safety fears to its early claims of environmental and landscape damage from the development.

A spokesman for SOL said: “Save Our Landscapes has taken up concerns of some members of the public who have expressed fears that the proposed extension of Hyndford Quarry to within 200 metres of the Falls of Clyde Reserve could turn the much loved beauty spot into a death-trap.”

In support of their allegation, SOL quoted Lanark resident and mother of two, Susan Kelly, as saying: “What worries me most is that it is actually very unsafe. Older children and teenagers naturally out by themselves will see this as a challenge, something exciting, something dangerous.

“It will be something dangerous – and there could easily be a fatality there because of the nature of the lack of security and the danger of the environment.”

The school teacher believes that “extending the quarry close to the Falls of Clyde, will greatly increase the dangers since the area is widely used as a playground by young people growing up in Lanark.”

For more details, pick up a copy of this week’s Carluke and Lanark Gazette.