A formal objection to plans to extend a ragstone quarry into an area of Ancient Woodland has been put in by a council.

The proposal from Gallagher Aggregates to extend its existing Hermitage Quarry, off Hermitage Lane in Barming by a further 96 hectares forms part of the draft Kent Mineral Sites Plan being prepared by Kent County Council.

The proposal that would eat into Oaken Wood, an area of designated Ancient Woodland, has met fierce opposition from local groups and from national bodies such as the Woodland Trust which gathered more than 25,000 letters of objection.

In August last year, the plan was not initially opposed by Maidstone council, whose then Conservative-run administration accepted the proposal that would enable Gallaghers to quarry a further 20 million tonnes of ragstone, most of which will be ground down into roadstone for making highways.

Opposition to the plan was a key element to both the Green Party’s and the Lib Dem’s election campaign ahead of the May council elections, which replaced the Conservative administration with a Green/Lib Dem alliance.

This month, the new administration announced it had formally objected to any extension of the quarry into the ancient woodland.

It said the extension would result in the loss or deterioration of irreplaceable ancient woodland, resulting in landscape fragmentation that would disrupt wildlife corridors, reduce biodiversity, and affect species that rely on large, continuous natural habitats.

The council said it was important that KCC understood Maidstone’s latest stance before progressing to the next stage of its Kent Mineral Sites Plan Review.

Cllr Tony Harwood (Lib Dem), the cabinet member for planning, policy and management, told KCC: “This is a clear statement of intent from the new MBC administration, that we will resist any development proposals that threaten our borough’s most important countryside and wildlife habitats.”

He added: “What remains of our sadly now much-depleted ancient woodland heritage must be protected, with urgent action taken to improve the habitat health, while overcoming an insidious isolation of our woods within an increasingly hostile landscape - through means such as expanding tree and hedgerow cover.”

The news was welcomed by the Kent Wildlife Trust, which has also objected to the scheme.

Its planning and policy officer, Nicholas Trower, said: "This is a positive step from Maidstone Borough Council and great news.

“Oaken Wood is a local wildlife site that contains ancient woodland and irreplaceable habitat.

"A large section of Oaken Wood has already been lost and the proposals to expand the quarry would result in a further loss of ancient woodland that would be greater than the losses from HS2 and the Lower Thames Crossing combined.

"The soil and trees of ancient woodland are key in the fight against climate change, with studies showing that ancient woodland in the UK alone stores up to 77 million tonnes of carbon.

“Oaken Wood is a key habitat for a range of species and is also part of a wider ecological network linking other woodlands and green spaces together and connecting habitats that would otherwise be isolated."

Gallaghers had previously argued that the woodland would not be damaged - it was the soil that was important in Ancient Woodland - not the trees.

The firm said it would carefully remove the soil and store it before quarrying. After the rock had been extracted and the void infilled, the soil would be returned and new trees planted on top.