Plans to expand Dean Quarry moved a step closer yesterday after a Cornwall Council planning committee green-lit the first wave of new construction at the site.

The west sub-area planning committee granted permission to quarry company Shire Oak to build a perimeter fence, fuel and explosive storage, and office, reception and amenity areas at the site, in what Walter Sanger, Cornwall Councillor for St Keverne, described as a “salami sliced” application.

Councillor Sanger, whose proposal for a site meeting to discuss the application was voted out by the committee, said: “This application is to prepare the way for more extraction, for a jetty in this area which we’re not supposed to know about.

“This application is just preparation for what is to come.”

Although the application was for minor works which all the councillors agreed would be unlikely to substantially affect nearby residents and the area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) in which the quarry sits, there was apparent consensus among the villagers who gathered at the meeting in Camborne, as well as some committee members including Councillor Sanger, that it was the first step towards building more substantial works including a 535 metre breakwater to ship out large quantities of rock armour.

Councillor Sanger told the committee that without the application for rock armour, which Shire Oak is hoping to quarry for a tidal lagoon in Swansea, there was “no point in having this quarry at all,” and added that it “seems to be an enabling application for the next thing.”

Concerns were raised about access to the site, with only one main road which one councillor said narrows down to “less than three metres” at places, and no route for exceptional loads.

When asked about the issue, a company representative told the committee he understood that discussions were still ongoing over the use of a route across land owned by Roskilly’s, a company staunchly opposed to the quarry, which was met with derision from the public.

He said other options would be to break the prefabricated buildings into smaller units and transport them by road, or to bring them in by sea to the quarry’s existing jetty, which he admitted “needs refurbishing.”

David Lambrick, parish councillor for St Keverne, told the committee the owner of Shire Oak had stated his intentions to bring stone out “by other means” if planning consent was not given for a new breakwater, and a letter on behalf of the company recently confirmed this would mean an average of 30 lorries a day passing through the village and past the school.

When asked if a compromise could be reached, Mr Lambrick told councillors “The only compromise he’ll come to is if he gets the jetty and the breakwater.

He also asked councillors to request a bond to ensure the costs of restoring the site at the end of the 15 year quarrying period will be covered, although the recent letter promised a restoration bond of £250,000 over three years for this purpose.

The committee decided that there were no reasonable grounds upon which to refuse the current application, although an amendment proposed by Councillor Tim Andrewes was added, requiring the number of HGVs visiting the quarry to be restricted to the level relied upon as part of the determination of the review of old minerals permissions (ROMPs) handed to the quarry in 2012.