A CEMENT company that won an award for restoring an old quarry into woodland has been criticised over a plan to build houses at the site just two years later.
Cemex UK Properties admitted some of the plantation would be affected at the site that also skirts the location of the historic 1526 Battle of Linlithgow Bridge.
The Woodland Trust Scotland charity said it is angry that Cemex, whose UK HQ is in Surrey, is planning to build houses at the award-winning new woodland on the edge of the West Lothian town. The charity said six hectares of woodland dominated by birch, oak and ash were planted in 2012 close to the historic battle site as part of the restoration of a Cemex's former aggregates quarry at Kettlestoun Mains.
The restoration site was commended in the New Native Woodland category of Scotland's Finest Woods Awards in 2013, sponsored by the woodland charity.
Carol Evans, director of the Woodland Trust Scotland, said: "Ripping out these saplings after just two years would be disgraceful. The planting was commended in Scotland's Finest Woods Awards because the new woodland has been well planned and planted to a high standard, within an area that has been opened up for people to explore and enjoy.
"Less than a fifth of West Lothian's woodland is native, which makes creating new woods in the area really important.
"We're asking Cemex to reconsider their plans and stick to the original proposal to plant a woodland that benefits people and wildlife, and that creates an attractive green gateway to Linlithgow."
A spokesman for Cemex said yesterday the concerns were "overstated", adding: "There only seems to be a small area that is affected on the eastern boundary and the vast majority of the planting scheme would remain intact."
The firm has put forward a "proposal of application notice for planning permission in principle for residential development" which is the early stages of the planning process with West Lothian Council.
The application said a full consultation was planned with the community as well as politicians.
It said in the paper that a "consultation event presenting indicative plans for comment and attended by the projects' professional consultant team including representatives of the applicants was planned".
"Oral comments will be recorded at the exhibition, while questionnaires will also be available to record and provide a forum for written comment."
The firm was earlier criticised for plans to extend a quarry at New Lanark World Heritage Site which is being examined by the Scottish Government. The move came after South Lanarkshire Council approved a plan by Cemex to extend Hyndford Quarry into a zone surrounding the mill town.
Cemex UK Operations wants to stretch its sand and gravel quarry inside the buffer zone, which is part of the Clyde Valley Woodlands National Nature Reserve, a special area of conservation.
The the examination of the Hyndland Quarry proposal is ongoing.
A spokesman for Cemex said: "We were pleased that the original planning application was approved by South Lanarkshire Council.
"We hope and trust that the process that is currently underway will confirm that decision."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article