Public has say on gravel pits (From Swindon Advertiser)

Public has say on gravel pits

8:30pm Sunday 5th February 2012 in News By Stephanie Tye

A CONSULTATION period has begun for the public to have their say over the extraction of millions of tonnes of gravel and sand from sites in the Cricklade area.

Swindon Council and Wiltshire Council have produced the blueprint to guide the use of land within the county for the provision of aggregate minerals.

Residents have been warned that they cannot stop the 14-year plans going ahead and that consultation is simply an opportunity to challenge technical points or inaccuracies that the document is based on.

From 62 possible sites put forward by landowners for extraction, seven have been identified as being able to produce more than a million tonnes of gravel and sand per year to meet demand up to the year 2026.

Of the seven sites, five are in Upper Thames Valley including North Farm, near Cricklade, land east of Calcutt, land at Cotswold Community, near Ashton Keynes, and Cox’s Farm and Blackburr Farm, near Marston Meysey.

Further sites identified for extraction include land near Compton Bassett and an extension to Brickworth Quarry.

And a ten to 20-year plan for further gravel extraction across Gloucestershire is expected later this year.

If approved, it could mean a surge of heavy goods vehicles on roads in north Wiltshire.

Wiltshire councillor for Crick-lade, Latton and Marston Mey-sey, Peter Colmer, said he was worried about the concentration of extraction and associated waste disposal sites in the area.

“There would be a higher degree of concentration of HGV traffic going through Cricklade and knock-on effects for Purton, Latton and Marston Meysey, said Coun Colmer.

The planned quantity of extracted gravel and sand will be sustainable and not compromise Wiltshire’s rich environmental and cultural heritage, according to Wiltshire Council’s cabinet member for Economy, Coun Fleur de Rhe-Philipe.

She said: “We believe we have a sound plan.

“This last round of consultation will enable people to look at the document and challenge any technical points or inaccuracies in the evidence on which we have based these plans.”

Coun Colmer said he planned to ask for an assessment to be carried out to reveal the impact of the scheme on roads so a traffic management scheme could be created.

He said: “We can’t stop the sites. All we can try to do is manage the effect.”