11 February 2011
11 February 2011
Essex County Council (ECC) is consulting on its Minerals Document: Preferred Approach which lists extra minerals (sand and gravel) sites that the council is proposing in Essex to the year 2028. The consultation lasts until 17th February (1).
ECC is proposing that just under half (2) of all extra sites should be located in Braintree District - at Rayne and at Rivenhall Airfield.
38% of the County's total additional supply of sand and gravel would be on and around Rivenhall Airfield in a complex of 6 sites stretching across hundreds of hectares of countryside. The site promoters have stated that activity could last until the year 2034.
The County Council's support for such a high concentation of minerals sites on and around the old WW2 Airfield comes on top of their support for one of the largest waste sites in Europe there, with a throughput of up to 1.4 million tonnes of waste a year, including incinerating 1,000 tonnes a day, with a catchment stretching beyond London.
If the waste site is built and the gravel sites become operational, HGV traffic using the private haul road on to the A120 at Bradwell could soar to around 700 HGVs a day. The Highways Agency has already expressed concern about the potential minerals sites traffic. The A120 at Bradwell is one of the worst congested sections of road in Essex.
Green District Councillors for Bradwell, Silver End and Rivenhall are urging residents to take part in the consultation and the simplest way of submitting responses is by e-mail to
mineralsandwastepolicy@essex.gov.uk
Cllr. James Abbott said
"We recognise that minerals have to be extracted, and that is why we are not objecting to 2 extensions adjacent to the existing Bradwell Quarry on Rivenhall Airfield which would provide about 4 million tonnes. This would be more than Braintree District's fair share for the overall county requirement of 42 million tonnes. We are also urging that more recycling of buildings materials and minerals takes place to minimise the need for new minerals sites anywhere in Essex.
However, ECC are proposing 16 million tonnes from the Airfield. The County Council states in its consultation document that they want a better distribution of sites around the county - but then flatly contradict themselves by putting nearly half of all their extra sites just in Braintree District and 38% of it just in one location. The 6 extra sites on and around the Airfield would encroach deep into the countryside, stretching almost as far as Silver End and Coggeshall Hamlet. ECC have the cheek to describe this as an "extension" to the existing quarry, when in reality hundreds of hectares of high quality farmland would be lost, well used footpaths diverted and there will be a direct threat to local woodland and hedges, especially the ancient Storey's Wood.
The quarry would become so vast, it would cover parts of 4 parishes - Silver End, Bradwell, Kelvedon and Coggeshall.
Given their support for the waste site, and now these new minerals sites, we really have to wonder what ECC have got against the communities around the Airfield. ECC seems intent on pressing ever more industrial activity on this rural area, irrespective of the clear views of local residents, the parish councils and the district council.
We would urge residents to e-mail ECC to object to sites A2, A5, A6 and A7."
And is the Consultation fair ?
Green Councillors have revealed that whilst residents have been encouraged to attend ECC roadshows about the proposed sites around the county listed in the ECC documents, and have been asked to comment on the detailed site assessments, the County Council is at the same time inviting even more sites from landowners (3), despite the fact that ECC already has many times over more sites than it needs.
This would appear to undermine the fairness of the consultation process.
ENDS
Notes:
(1) The full documents run to many hundreds of pages. If you wish to look at the full documents and complete the full form, you can do this via
http://consult.essexcc.gov.uk
And the documents can also be found at
www.essex.gov.uk/MDD-consultation
(2) Braintree District Council (BDC) has evaluated the degree of this concentration as being "38% of the County's total supply of sand and gravel" at Rivenhall Airfield in the Plan Period and that this is "clearly not a dispersed pattern."
Taken together with the Rayne site, BDC states that this figure rises to 49% of total area and 48% of total tonnage of the entire County requirement to the year 2028 will be all concentrated in Braintree District.
(3) At para 8.38 of the main consultation document ECC states that it is NOT seeking further sites as sufficient have already come forward. But at 8.39, ECC then directly conradicts itself on the same page (!) by inviting new sites
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