First birthday for Clyde River Action Group (CRAG)

And the Clyde River Action Group milestone is being celebrated with the declaration that CRAG has hardly even started to fight yet!

The group issued a re-statement this week that it has both the will and the means to fight all the way the proposed creation of an opencast mine "bigger than Biggar" at Overburns near Lamington.

The Gazette has extensively covered the plan to extract hundreds of thousands of tons of sand and gravel from the scenic area.

It sparked the creation of CRAG at a public meeting a year ago, attended by worried locals, in Lamington Village Hall.

The following 12 months have witnessed a colossal war of words between the proposed developers, Patersons of Greenoakhill, and CRAG.

A year on, South Lanarkshire Council has yet to formally consider the planning application to develop the site.

But, in an anniversary statement this week, CRAG said that it was ready for anything.

A mock-up photographic illustration of what it claims the environmentally damaging flooding effects would be, should the quarrying be allowed to proceed, was also issued.

CRAG chairwoman, local woman Caroline Parker, said: "If this awful application, which will cause environmental havoc, is turned down by the council and the applicants appeal, then CRAG is fully resourced.

"The case against Overburns will be put fully and forcefully."

Patersons has staunchly defended its application, rejecting most of the CRAG claims of environmental damage and even promising improvements to much of the wildlife habitat.

For more information, pick up a copy of this week's Carluke and Lanark Gazette which is in the shops now, priced just 48p.