West Norfolk digs in against quarries
EMERGENCY protest meetings are springing up across West Norfolk as residents unite to protect their countryside from dozens of proposed quarries.
Norfolk County Council has identified more than 100 potential mineral extraction sites across the county, including 32 in the west, to meet an ever-growing demand for sand and gravel.
Its consultation document has caused alarm among many residents who fear the quarrying could have a devastating effect on communities, roads, the environment and wildlife, not to mention the general appearance of the area.
Just days after the Lynn News first reported the suggested sites, residents have come together to hold meetings, lobby local councillors and make leaflets in an attempt to safeguard their green spaces.
The document also lists 64 waste disposal sites across the county as reported last month, and residents have until next Friday to comment on the proposals, part of the county council's blueprint for the region over the next 13 years.
It is required by law to produce long-term plans to ensure the demand for minerals and waste sites is met in the years up to 2021, but some sites in particular have sparked controversy.
Among the proposed quarry sites are three large areas of countryside in the Gaywood River valley, including Roydon Common, Pott Row Wood and Grimston Warren, which a cluster of villages are determined to protect.
In the first of many meetings, more than 100 people crammed in to Leziate Village Hall for a hastily arranged residents' meeting last Sunday and an action group has since been set up in nearby Ashwicken.
Grimston Parish Council has already formally objected to the plans and last week saw Leziate Parish Council vote unanimously to follow the same course.
Around 30 concerned residents attended a meeting on Wednesday to voice their concerns and debate the issue.
Parish council clerk Mrs Elaine Oliver said although members understood it was only a consultation document, it would be responding with a number of concerns, not least the effect further quarrying in the area could have on wildlife.
Meanwhile, villagers in East Winch have been flocking to parish council meetings and are even thought to have formed a protest group called East Winch Action Group (EWAG) to lobby the county council.
Parish clerk Mrs Annmarie Parker told the Lynn News around 60 concerned residents had attended its monthly meeting last Monday, but the council had not yet made a decision on the proposals.
Members were due to look at the consultation papers in more detail at a special meeting dedicated to the issue, due to be held yesterday.
Elsewhere in the county, protesters have started a petition on the Downing Street website to oppose proposed mineral and landfill at Hockham Woods, between the village and Wretham, to the north of Thetford.
It has attracted more than 550 signatures and it is thought West Norfolk protest groups may do the same.
But the county council stressed the proposals are in the early stages and it welcomed people's comments.
Any sites selected following the public consultation will need planning permission before they can be developed.
The consultation documents can be viewed and commented on via the council website at www.nor folk.gov.uk/nmwdf
Proposed mineral extraction sites:
One at Bawsey, Grimston and Leziate; two at Castle Rising, Roydon and Grimston; five at East Winch; Leziate; Methwold; five at Middleton; one at Wormegay, Middleton and East Winch; two at Pentney; one at East Winch and Pentney; Runcton Holme; Snettisham; Stoke Ferry; Syderstone; four at Tottenhill; Watlington; two at West Dereham and one at Litcham.
Proposed waste disposal sites:
Crimplesham; two at Docking; two at East Winch; Feltwell; three at Lynn; six at Middleton; two at Snettisham; two at West Dereham; Wormegay; Swaffham.
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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