A legal threat by Balmullo Quarry campaigners has forced Fife Council to remove “shock” redactions from an environmental impact report.
And protesters say the move has led to the discovery a planned expansion could “literally blow up” habitats for pine martens, badgers, red squirrels and foxes.
The campaign group says the revelation now gives them grounds to formally object to the Breedon planning application.
And they are urging other members of the public to follow their lead by challenging decisions they believe to be wrong.
Campaigner Sally Northcott said: “A lawyer wrote to them on our behalf.
“He recommended we take it to a judicial review if they didn’t change it.
“They’ve obviously taken it very seriously and we’re very glad they did.
“We’ve now found there are signs of pine marten, badgers and kestrels, which are the only bird of prey still in decline.
“Why on earth would anyone be considering literally blowing them up?”
‘Outrageous’ to consider destroying species
Quarry owner Breedon wants to double the site’s size.
It also hopes to expand its lifespan by 20 years.
Consent would allow it to yield another 3.2 million tonnes of aggregate.
However, the Balmullo campaign group was horrified to discover last month that large sections of a study on the council’s planning portal had been blacked out.
The council planners’ actions meant the public was unable to access crucial information on the effect on Lucklaw Hill.
Dr Northcott added: “We’ve identified and recorded over 700 species on the hill.
“It’s outrageous during a biodiversity crisis to even consider destroying it.”
The group has already thanked Fife Council for removing the redactions.
“By presenting a really strong case, they have listened to us,” Dr Northcott said.
“If we can now make a strong case against blowing up Lucklaw Hill, we should be able to convince them not to recommend approval.”
Planners sought advice from experts
Fife Council planning chief Pam Ewen said they had taken advice from Nature Scot, which advises on protected species and their habitats.
And, last month, she said the redactions would stay given the potential for species to be harmed if their location was published.
This week, service manager Mary Stewart said they had sought further advice from nature conservation experts.
“The council was able to achieve its aim of avoiding harm to protected species by only redacting the detailed information about the location of species, rather than all of the information about the species,” she said.
“This has allowed a significantly more complete version of the EIA documents to be displayed online.”
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