PLANS to turn a gravel quarry into a landfill site holding more than 800,000 cubic metres of waste at the edge of the Dengie Peninsula will be considered at a district council meeting tonight (June 9).
Haulage firm G&B Finch Ltd has requested a 15-year extension to their extraction work at the quarry in Asheldham, near Southminster, to allow for the removal of a further 1.1 million cubic metres of sand and gravel from the pit, and to replace it with tonnes of inert waste material.
If given approval residents on the peninsula will face more than a decade of up to 48 HGV lorries passing through the region's narrow roads each day as material is carried to and from the quarry, a prospect that has angered some of those living just minutes from the busy site.
"I believe a lot of people through the Dengie don't know this is happening but the area just can't cope with the volume of traffic if it goes ahead," said Jeff Faulkner, who has lived in his home just a mile from the site for 36 years.
"Turning the quarry into a landfill site, even though it is stated as only inert waste going in, will undoubtedly end up with all sorts of rubbish being tipped there to gain revenue, be it legally or illegally, which will allow skip lorries in from all directions adding to the already high volumes of traffic and destroying the area we all love.
"On top of all this our roads and hedgerows are being destroyed by all this traffic plus my property is suffering as a result of being shaken by heavy vehicles going by all of the time."
Essex County council has confirmed that public consultation on the application, which was first submitted in April this year, closed on May 22.
"There needs to be meaningful discussion of the scheme, it shouldn't just be a paper exercise, and so far there hasn't been sufficient discussion from the developers with outlying areas," added chairman of Southminster Parish council and district councillor Brian Beale.
"We don't know for sure if the route of the lorries would come through Southminster yet, but it's a possibility and Essex County Council never seem to care about traffic flow through our village."
Under the new scheme the firm hopes to import approximately 65,525 cubic metres of waste each year to the quarry, consisting of predominantly clay and soil, with small quantities of sand, brick and concrete.
But the Essex-based haulage company has reassured residents that the changes would not lead to further lorries travelling to and from the site.
"The proposed extension of time to this quarry will secure a continuation of and much needed support for the local economy and construction industry," said David Fletcher, of Strutt and Parker, agent for the application.
"This both includes the employment of staff workers and lorry drivers on the site and assistance with provision of material for local construction projects."
