Put new quarry plans to rest: campaigners
CONTINUED delays to plans for a new quarry show the application should be put to rest, say campaigners.
For around two years, proposals have been in the works for a quarry to be built at Five Oaks Farm in Shedfield.
On three occasions, Hampshire County Council has issued the applicant, TJ Waste, with a regulation 25 order - meaning information is missing in the planning application.
Now, the application won't go before the county council's regulatory committee until at least the end of July.
Steve Bissell, from the Stop The Quarry at Five Oaks Farm, believes the application should now go before the council, regardless of whether it's ready or not.
He said: 'It's definitely frustrating - the county council keeps going back to TJ Waste, asking them for more information based on the issues we have raised.
'They then come back with answers that either skim over or completely ignore our concerns, but time and again the county council is giving them the benefit of the doubt.
'If there are gaps missing in the application then so be it - take it before the regulatory committee and they can answer for it there instead.'
The 78,963 square metre site would see the soft sand dug up and the area filled with 435,000 tonnes of clean inert waste and materials, such as bricks, ceramics and concrete.
More than 600 objections have been submitted to date, and a new deadline of July 11 has been set for residents to give their thoughts.
Residents in Shedfield are fiercely opposed to the application, with concerns about the added traffic caused by the quarry and the noise pollution.
Steve said: 'There's one person who has already moved house because the application was submitted. Since then their house has stayed on the market and it's simply not selling.
'It's not surprising really, you wouldn't want to move in somewhere and then have a quarry built next to your back garden.
'Even now the planning application isn't completed and doesn't answer any of our concerns. For example, our fears about noise and the increased volume levels is still unanswered.'
The next regulatory committee meeting after the public consultation period ends is Wednesday, July 27.