CONTROVERSIAL plans to allocate acres of land for quarrying across Dorset are set to be heard by government planning officers in the autumn.

Dorset County Council's (DCC) proposed mineral sites plan, which allocates suitable sites for quarrying of sand, gravel, building stones and ball clay, will be heard between September 25 and 27 and between October 2 and 3 at the Dorford Centre in Dorchester.

Under the proposals, the council has allocated 21 sites for future quarry extraction, including new sites at Woodsford Quarry, Station Road and Hurst Farm in Moreton as well as Trigon Farm in Wareham.

However, campaigners say the proposals could have a "devastating" impact on the environment.

Frome Residents Against Mineral Extraction (FRAME) say the planned new quarries at Station Road and Hurst Farm in Moreton would see many ancient trees and hedgerows, with their many species of bats, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and plants, all placed at risk of destruction or disturbance by the quarry proposals.

The plans, the group claim, would also put the writer TE Lawrence’s grave under threat.

Clarice Wickenden, chairman of the group, said that a barrister would represent them at the hearing following a fundraising appeal which has raised more than £1,685 out of a target of £5,000.

She said: "It is very important that we submit our concerns about these quarries to try to get these three sites withdrawn from the plan.

"If they remain then there is every likelihood that quarrying will go ahead up to 2033, creating a huge scar on our precious Dorset landscape.”

Councillor Daryl Turner, Dorset County Council's environment portfolio holder, said: "The most suitable sites will assist in building a sustainable economy for the future whilst protecting Dorset’s unique environment.”

A Dorset County Council spokesman, added: "The matters to be discussed, together with the hearings programme, will be uploaded to our website once the inspector has confirmed them."