Last chance for gravel protester

Jun 2 2011 By Becky Middleton

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A STANWELL man is urging people to join him in a protest at Surrey County Council's offices against plans to extract gravel from two more sites in the village.

The council's cabinet will meet on Tuesday, June 21, when it is expected to recommend adopting the Surrey Minerals Plan - a long term strategy for mineral extraction in the county.

The plan earmarks the George VI reservoir and Homers Farm in Stanwell for gravel extraction, to the anger of Andrew McLuskey, of Diamedes Avenue, who says 'too much' has been dumped on the village.

He said: "Stanwell has taken enough hits for the area, and we have enough to deal with in terms of noise and the airport.

"It's unfair that Surrey County Council are dumping all this on us. I'm urging activists to come along to the meeting on June 21 - we'll hold a few banners and make our voices heard.

"It'll be peaceful, it's about saving the environment. It will be our last ditch attempt to influence the council to not go ahead with the plans.

"Just because the inspector has given the go ahead for this does not mean the council has to."

Gravel extraction already takes place at Oak Leaf Farm and Stanwell Quarry, and with a gravel dump at Stanwell Moor, Mr McLuskey says the latest recommendation is a step too far.

A spokeswoman for Surrey County Council said she did not feel it was relevant to comment further on the issue, but in previous correspondence, Dr Lynne Hack, the council's cabinet member for environment, said: "We've worked hard to protect as much of Surrey's countryside as possible.

"I would prefer that no areas of Surrey were quarried but our county needs to play its part in providing raw materials to build and maintain roads and houses. With this in mind, we came up with a plan that has as little impact on the environment and residents' lives as possible."

Mr McLuskey wants people to meet him outside the main entrance at County Hall on June 21 at 10am.

For more information, call him on 01784 248 294. 

Original Article