PROTESTERS fighting plans to destroy woodland in Kingsteignton for a new quarry have been given a boost after hearing trees in the area are to be temporarily protected.

Teignbridge Council has agreed the temporary Tree Preservation Order over the affected area which will last until February next year.

Mining company Sibelco holds the mineral rights as well as a range of planning permissions – some dating back more than 50 years – to work the land at Zitherixon Quarry.

But campaign group Save Our Trees now says it has a further few months to show there is overwhelming public support against the quarry plan before a final decision is made.

A Teignbridge Council spokesman said: ‘Following reports of a potential loss of woodland the Teignbridge District Council served a temporary Tree Preservation Order on 21 August 2025.

‘The council is following a legal process with the next step being to review the case and any permissions that may have been issued by Devon County Council as Mineral Planning Authority to determine if the council confirm the Order and make it permanent.

‘The temporary notice will cease to be in effect on the 21 February 2026.’

A spokesman for Save Our Trees said: ‘This gives our community a brief window to show overwhelming public support before the council decides whether to make the protection permanent.

'But we need hundreds of local voices to write in support of the TPO, to counter Sibelco’s strong written objections.’

The multi-national company produces kaolin and silica from ball clay quarries around Kingsteignton for products including ceramics and tiles, and is a major employer in the area.

It is currently preparing a scheme for Zitherixon – also known as Rackerhayes – and intends to submit a planning application later this year.

The area includes woodland, lakes and sports pitches used by Newton Abbot Rugby Club.

Objectors say local households face 50 years of harmful silica dust, noise and lorry traffic as a result of the proposals, and taking down hundreds of trees would remove natural flood barriers and leave the area at risk.

Kingsteignton Town Council voted to support the TPOs

Sibelco wants to expand the quarry to extract five million tonnes of ball clay over the next 50 years.

The firm stopped extracting from it in 1995, but it said reserves of this type of clay - used by the ceramics industry for products such as toilets and tiles - were now low.

According to the plans, extracting the clay could mean removing six fishing lakes, surrounding trees and relocating Newton Abbot Rugby Club.

Holland Risley, who set up the campaign group Save Our Trees when he saw Sibelco's proposals, said: 'Our message is simple – 1960s mineral rights cannot override today’s planning law.

'Historic mineral rights or old permissions do not provide a free pass today.

‘Killing a huge forest affects all of us.

‘There's so many homes along the edge of the proposed site, we are talking 50 metres to 100 metres maybe from the edge of the quarry works.

‘This is wholly an inappropriate location for a clay quarry.’