Bosses of a major Shropshire quarry today unveiled full details of plans to expand it by nine acres – moving further into woodland and taking up more of a wildlife site.

Aggregate Industries UK wants to expand Haughmond Quarry, near Shrewsbury, to help the company to extract nearly three million tonnes more of a type of stone used to lay skid-resistant road surfacing.

The company say the 3.7 hectares (nine acres) expansion would extend the life of the quarry by almost eight years and allow it to extract more of the gritstone.

But a number of concerns have been raised, with 19 letters of objection submitted to Shropshire Council amid fears of the impact it will have on the Haughmond Hill County Wildlife Site.The quarry is already on the site but would take up more of the land with residents concerned at the loss of ancient woodland and claiming the quarry has extended far enough into the hill, which is popular with walkers and dog owners.

However, despite the objections the plans look set to win the backing of Shropshire Council’s strategic regulatory committee.

Council planning officers are recommending the plans are approved, subject to a number of conditions and a legal agreement, when the committee meets on Thursday.

Case officer Malcolm Bell said in a report to the committee: “The applicant is of the view the extension is justified because the gritstone is a high specification aggregate.”

It adds that if the proposals are approved the quarry’s life would be secured to about 2020, and it is thought that this would secure the long-term future for employees of the existing quarry.

The site would also extract minerals and carry out process operations from 6am to 8pm Mondays to Fridays and from 6am to 1.30pm on Sundays.

It says there should be “negligible” impact on the environment and also puts forward a number of “benefits” if it secures approval including a comprehensive restoration scheme for the whole site.

It also proposes the adoption of a biodiversity management plan for areas that will be not be quarried, the restoration of heathland, new permissive rights of way for public use, a plan to look at ways to reduce traffic associated with the quarry and improvements to the B5062.

Shropshire Wildlife Trust, which manages the wildlife site, has raised concerns about the loss of more of it but has welcomed a number of the works being done to provide other benefits.