The quarry licences nobody remembers approving

Months of records requests trace a cluster of quarrying licences along a protected river buffer back to a single meeting that, according to its own minutes, never discussed quarrying.

The trucks start before dawn. By seven, the dust along the river road is so thick that residents keep their windows shut all day. The quarries that produce it, residents say, appeared almost overnight.

Over several months, Viewpoints filed records requests and reviewed licensing documents for a cluster of quarries operating close to a protected river buffer.

A meeting that discussed something else

The licences trace back to a single committee meeting. Its published minutes describe a discussion about road maintenance and market stalls. Quarrying is not mentioned once.

If it was approved, show us where. We have asked three times.

Resident, river road

No answers yet

Officials contacted for this story either declined to comment or referred questions to a committee that, according to records, has not met since the licences were issued.

In Part 2, we follow the money: who owns the quarries, and who buys their stone.


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