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Quarry’s dust: ‘huge health risk'

16/06/2006

The original article is on the excellent Surrey Advertiser Newspaper website ... http://www.surreyad.co.uk/news/index.html?article17595

COUNCILLORS have backed the public in condemning plans for a quarry on Godalming’s doorstep.

At a packed meeting held this week, Surrey County Council’s (SCC) plans to excavate Eashing Farm for millions of tonnes of sand and Bargate Stone were branded highly damaging for the town and its residents.

Members of the Save the Surrey Hills campaign group spoke to Waverley Borough Council’s (WBC) Executive committee to warn them of the “horrendous” consequences the plan would have.
Councillors were told the estimated area of excavation was equivalent to the distance between Godalming’s Pepperpot and the Sainsbury’s store at Catteshall.

A spokesman for the campaigners said: “The Bargate stone has to be removed to get at the sand. To do this they will have to use either dynamite, or drilling and cutting – both of which will create, noise and dust pollution.

“Our research has shown that prevailing winds will bring the dust cloud down on to Godalming. It will travel for up to a mile creating a major risk to health.”

Up to 174,000 lorries would enter and exit the site, over the next 10 years – one every two minutes, the campaigners told councillors.
Eashing Farm is opposite the Squirrel Pub in Hurtmore and although it is in Guildford, it is bordered by Godalming’s Charterhouse ward along with the parishes of Priorsfield, Eashing, Shackleford, and Puttenham.

The county council redefined the area as a “preferred site” for quarrying millions of tonnes of sand and Bargate stone as part of its draft minerals plan.

Residents have been told quarrying will take place over decades and the resulting vast hole will be filled with “undisclosed” waste.
Backing the residents, Councillor Chris Slyfield said: “It is patently obvious that this has fallen through the hole in the bucket. The site is in Guildford but all the problems will be in Waverley and particularly in Godalming.”

Councillor Victor Scrivens called into question the need to quarry Bargate stone. “I don’t believe it is mentioned in the plan,” he said.
“If they have to go through a layer of rock to get at the sand it makes this a very complex operation. Is the real reason for this the more valuable Bargate stone?”

He added: “We should object strongly to this. It will have detrimental affects on the people and the roads and it is very much open to question the need for this application.”

Councillor John Robini blasted the county council for failing to consult properly with the community. “There are concerns about traffic, river pollution, dust, noise, and there are no answers to these questions,” he said.

“Where does this fit in with enhancing the local area? It may be in Guildford but it will affect Godalming and if it goes ahead I believe it will be totally against the quality of life in that area.”

The county council has said that Eashing Farm was included in the minerals plan, despite its special landscape designations, due to its proximity to the A3 and its potential large yield of sand.
The public consultation on the plan has now ended and a final version will be prepared for approval. It will then be submitted to the Government Office for the South East in the middle of next year for final adoption in autumn 2008 following a public examination.

The SCC pdf which is the source of these figures is at ( all one line ... ): -