RESIDENTS AGAINST GRAVEL EXTRACTION IN THE PIDDLE
To contact us email us at Rage or telephone 07010 700 427
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RESIDENTS AGAINST GRAVEL EXTRACTION IN THE PIDDLE To contact us email us at Rage or telephone 07010 700 427
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Dorset County
Council have finally issued the Minerals
Site Allocations Document - Discussion Paper for consultation
and comment. This document lists the sites being considered for mineral extraction as well
as the criteria to be used to select the sites to go into the Dorset Minerals Plan for the
next 15 years. You have until 12
December to comment and express your views on this discussion document, which does not
give much time. Although it is important to get as many objections in as possible now,
there will be a further opportunity to comment and object when the formal Draft Minerals
Site Allocation Document is produced next year. We plan to organise a public meeting well
before this time to more fully explain the site, the issues and objections. There are many
pages to this latest Minerals
Site Allocations Document - Discussion Paper although many of
them are about the other sites being considered for mineral extraction. Any objections
need to be based on facts about the issues and damage to our lovely environment. RAGE will
be creating a draft response to assist you in commenting and we will send this to you at
least one week before the 12 December deadline. If you have access to
the Internet then you can read/print copies of the documents on line by using the link http://consult.dorsetforyou.com/portal
.You can then register and comment/object online. If you need help to do this please let
me know. Alternatively
contact the Dorset County Council Minerals Policy Team and ask then to send you a printed
copy of the document as well as a response form:- Dorset County Council, County Hall,
Colliton Park, Dorchester DT1 1XJ. Telephone 01305 228585 or 01305 224252. Please help protect the beautiful Piddle valley in Hyde and the Wareham Forest from being damaged by gravel extraction. See RAGE's summary of the objections to the inclusion of the Philliols Farm site See RAGE's full response to the Minerals Site Allocations Document - Discussion Paper. RAGE In The PiddleNeeds your support Philliols Farm proposed gravel site as it looks now
9th August Site visit to sand and gravel quarries in the area DCC organised visits to some of the existing gravel and sand quarries in the area. A member of RAGE went along. See photos below: Click on any image to expand.
7th June 2007 Dorset County Council stakeholders workshop for the Minerals Core Strategy. Members of the RAGE attended the above workshop on 7th June to represent their views. The outcome of the workshop can be found on the DCC web site following this link Aggregate Industries not always compliant
Aggregate Industries fined £13,000 for unauthorised LAPC process One of the UK's leading aggregates businesses has been fined £13,000 after flagrantly disregarding air pollution legislation and operating a new concrete batching plant without authorisation. The conviction is a serious embarrassment for Aggregate Industries, which makes much of its policy of complying with the law and operating all its sites in accordance with the international environmental management standard ISO14001. The fine was imposed by Barrow magistrates on 6 August, after Aggregate Industries UK pleaded guilty to operating a concrete batching plant on Sowerby Woods Industrial Estate in Barrow without a local air pollution control authorisation, in breach of section 6(1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The court heard that environmental health officers at Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council had advised the company on three occasions between November 2002 and January 2003 that the plant which it intended to construct on the estate would require authorisation before it could start operating. On 17 January, the council received a complaint about a dust nuisance on the estate. Officers found that Aggregate Industries had built and was operating the plant without an authorisation. Moreover, it was running the plant without any dust suppression equipment. Although the company applied for an authorisation on 20 January, it continued to operate the plant illegally. Magistrates fined Aggregate Industries £13,000 with £872 costs, commenting that environmental matters were becoming increasingly important but the company had deliberately disregarded environmental legislation. Aggregate Industries is the UK's fourth largest supplier of aggregates, and a leading producer of asphalt and ready mixed concrete. Its corporate environmental policy promises that it will "comply with all environmental legislation". It also claims to have integrated environmental management into all its day to day activities, supported by a "comprehensive training programme" for all employees. Last year, when it published its first sustainability report, the company also set itself apart in the sector, noting that it has achieved certification to ISO14001 across the full range of its operations rather than quarrying alone. It was in the process of introducing the standard at the Barrow site when the offence occurred.
ENDS Report 343, August 2003, p 55 November 2006 On 2nd November we had an excellent article in the Wareham Advertiser about RAGE and the visit by Annette Brooke, as seen below (click on the image for an enlargement).
We also have appeared in the Blackmore Vale newspaper where we had a good write up. October 2006 On 15th October Annette Brooke (MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole) visited the area to look at the site of a potential sand and gravel extraction proposal. Annette met with local residents and offered her support and help to ensure Gravel extraction does not spoil the beautiful valley.
The Bere Regis Parish Plan was available for public viewing and Rage were pleased to see that the local Parish Council wish to support our campaign by providing consultancy advice. August and September 2006 The Dorset Echo carried an article on 11 September describing the Rage campaign with a photograph of some of the residents behind a large poster which gave details of our web site. Click on image for larger readable version. Radio 2CRFM broadcast details of our campaign with good coverage including an interview with the chairman of Rage David King. A similar broadcast was also made by BBC Radio Solent and Wessex FM. During August and September Rage Posters have been displayed and leaflets distributed in the area to make the local community aware of the potential gravel extraction. Unfortunately somebody (we suspect an interested party!!) has been taking the posters down. Unperturbed rage members have displayed new posters and secured them higher up to try and prevent the vandals destroying them.
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