CULLINGWORTH councillors have pledged to make their views known if plans are submitted to expand Midgeham Cliff End Quarry.

Cullingworth Village Council confirmed their position regarding the quarry, which lies between Harden and Cullingworth, at a recent meeting.

A resident had recently contacted the council after seeing what they claimed appeared to be test drilling being carried out on the nearby moor.

The resident, in a conversation with council clerk, Angela Holmes, asked whether the Village Council would support nearby residents in their opposition to further quarry expansion.

In the past the council, had not been officially consulted because the quarry was not specifically in Cullingworth, but had commented anyway.

The clerk said she would advise the Village Council if a further application was submitted.

Midgeham Cliff End Quarry – in Rycroft Road between the Guide pub and Ryecroft in Harden – was redundant until at least spring 2012 when Bradford Council approved proposals to recycle construction and demolition waste.

The proposed scheme involved 600 lorry movements to and from the quarry every week. Council planners imposed stricter operating restrictions to protect nearby residents.

Community leaders welcomed the decision to reduce the operating hours and impose an annual limit on the materials removed from the quarry.

A 5,000-tonne annual limit was placed on recycled aggregates removed from the site, to minimise the adverse impact of lorry movements and to ensure the timely restoration of the quarry, which must be fully restored by September 30, 2022.

There was a further application in September 2012 to alter the strict conditions regarding the recycling of the construction and demolition waste.

The new conditions included extending the operation hours by 30 minutes in the morning, relaxing a restriction on recycled aggregate outputs and simplifying a condition imposing record-keeping requirements.

In a separate matter at Cullingworth Village Council, the clerk reported the new manager of the village's chicken factory had offered to meet councillors to discuss issues raised by nearby residents.