West Oxfordshire residents angry at proposals to build gravel quarries in the area are set to meet David Cameron to lobby the Prime Minister about their concerns.
The campaign group, who call themselves the Anti Gravel Group of Residents in Oxfordshire West (AGGROW), are worried about Government plans to increase the amount of gravel quarried in the county from 1.58 million tones to 2.1 million tonnes each year between 2011 and 2026.
Oxfordshire County Council has nominated a number of sites throughout the county for consideration, although it plans to contest the tonnage required by the Government. These include potential new quarries that run through the villages of Clanfield/Bampton, which stretches from Kelmscott in the West, through Langford, Clanfield, Black Bourton and Bampton all the way to Aston in the East.
AGGROW is made up of 12 parish councils in the area that have joined together to fight the plans. Spokesperson Sam Mostyn said: “If the excavations were concentrated in our area, each year, for 10 years or so, the beautiful countryside in and around our villages could be burdened with 84,000 trucks, each carrying 25-plus tonnes of sand and gravel.
“For six days every week the peace and quiet will be shattered by 538 truck journeys per day.”
If the proposals go ahead, gravel extraction in the county would increase by 20 per cent. The campaigners appear to have the support of the county council, and Councillor Ian Hudspeth, the cabinet member for infrastructure, has written to the Communities and Local Government Minister, Greg Clark, to say the extraction figures should be abolished.
In a letter last month, Cllr Hudspeth said: “While we accept that in Oxfordshire we have a significant supply of resources, there are large areas of the county that have already been devastated by mineral extraction. We feel that we should be looking towards alternative forms of aggregates and certainly recycled aggregates should be taken into consideration when we consider the overall amount required.”
AGGROW are set to meet David Cameron on Friday, August 13. Other areas of the county that could be affected if the proposals go ahead include Dorchester, Radley, Benson, Culham, Warborough, Sutton Courtenay, the Lower Windrush Valley, Eynsham and Cassington.
The Parishes Against Extraction group (PAGE), which represents areas affected in South Oxfordshire, are also fighting the plans. PAGE spokesperson Steve Thompson told the Journal in April: “We understand the need for gravel and sand, but it is more important to understand what is appropriate for this area.
“Gravel extraction on the scale that the County Council propose could bring 15 years of chaos to the villages in this area and result in permanent damage to our local heritage. Our rural villages and lifestyles need protecting.”
