Plans to expand sand and gravel extraction at Point of Ayre Quarry have been approved - despite concerns over the loss of habitat for nationally scarce species of funghi.

Island Aggregates’s application includes the progressive restoration of the worked quarry into a substantial wildlife habitat comprising open water, wetland, grassland, scrub and areas of exposed sand.

The proposed extension to the west of the current workings at Cranstal, Bride, is anticipated to release around 3 million tonnes of sand and gravel.

It aims to maintain the current level of output whilst extending the operational life of the quarry.

Sand and gravel will be extracted to a depth of 10 metres.

Extraction is anticipated to continue for some 30 years, with final restoration completed within two years after that time.

The planning committee heard that the site is home to four globally vulnerable species of funghi including the spotted blewit and waxcaps as well as six nationally scarce invertebrates.

Paul Adamson of Island Aggregates told the committee that this was the only indigenous supply of sand and gravel in the island.

He said the application was so important for the wider construction industry and the economy of the Isle of Man.

‘This is much more than about the future of the quarry. If we can’t produce this material locally it has to be imported by sea,’ he said, adding that this would lead to increased costs and supply chain risks.

Mr Adamson said Island Aggregates fully recognised the environmental responsibility that came with sand and gravel extraction and had worked hard with technical experts to mitigate the potential impact.

The application site comprises some 47 hectares of agricultural land located immediately to the west of the existing Point of Ayre Quarry.

It borders Areas of Special Scientific Interest and the Ayres National Nature Reserve.

And the site includes to two Second World War bunkers and associated radar mast bases.

Some 106 acres of barren gravel pits at the Point of Ayre have already been transformed into a wildlife haven by Manx BirdLife, with a further 120 acres expected to become part of the nature reserve after Island Aggregates completes quarrying operations on its present site.

Recommending approval, the principal planning officer said the application presents an ‘unusual and finely balanced’ planning judgement involving two significant and competing objectives.

There was a compelling need to safeguard a nationally important mineral resource but at the same time the proposal would result in the loss of habitats of recognised ecological value, she said.

She said the phased restoration strategy would provide significant opportunities for habitat creation and long-term management but this wouldn’t replicate the habitat that will be lost.

Planning committee member Matthew Warren asked whether it was possible to transplant funghi but was told this is not possible. It takes hundreds of years for waxcap grasslands to establish, the committee was told.

Planning committee chairman Rob Callister agreed the application was finely balanced.

The planning committee voted to approve the application by five votes to one, with Mr Warren being the only one to vote against.