BRAINTREE will become "one big hole" under county council proposals to extract more than 20 tonnes of gravel from four sites in the district.
Essex County Council's Replacement Minerals Local Plan proposes that more than half of the gravel extracted across the whole county for the next 16 years should come from new and existing sites at Rivenhall End, Rivenhall Airfield, Rayne and Great Leighs.
The proposals were given the go-ahead at a county council cabinet meeting last week, which identified 23 quarry sites around the county. This plan replaces the Mineral Local Plan adopted by the authority in 1997, and envisages the excavation of 40 million tonnes of material by 2029.
New sites approved include a 90-hectare quarry at Broadfield Farm in Rayne – a former Essex village of the year winner – and a 46-hectare excavation area in Colemans Farm at Rivenhall End, near Little Braxted.
Other plans will see existing quarries at the former Rivenhall Airfield and Great Leighs extended, with vastly bigger capacity to contribute an additional 16million tonnes to the county's production of building materials.
Graham Butland, leader of Braintree District Council, told the Chronicle: "We've made many recommendations but the county council haven't taken any notice of representations.
"There's unanimous opposition to these plans across all parties in the district council. We will go to the inspector of public inquiries and the district will put forward the strongest case we can.
"Under these plans, Braintree will become one big hole."
There was a public consultation earlier this year, with more than 200 responses.
Protests from parish and district councils were overruled as the council approved the plans that will now go before the Government Planning Inspectorate in October.
Councillor Mike Banthorpe, from Rayne, said: "The impact this will have on the houses that back on to the site will be huge, as it's only 100 metres from the properties.
"There's also a lot of concern for the water table as it is quite high in that area. But we're going to fight this and a lot of people in the village are going to attend the public meetings."
James Abbott, Green Party county councillor for Witham, says the plans for all four quarries mean around 800 lorries a week will pass through the district.
"We're extremely disappointed and this is a widespread feeling across Braintree District Council," he said.
"Essex County Council paid no attention whatsoever to the local community, they held consultations but they didn't take any notice of what people had to say.
"We accept the need for gravel and sand and that Braintree needs to contribute. but it's the volume in such a small area that we object to. The impact on the countryside will be huge, despite what developers say – it scars the land, and to have that concentration of lorries flowing onto the A12 and A120 is just madness."
