Thursday 5 November 2009

Gravel Pit Battle

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/archive/2009/11/05/Letters+(oxfordtimesletters)/4719514.Gravel_pit_battle/

Gravel pit battle

Sir – A letter in your issue of October 22 praised Oxford city councillors for their good judgement in rejecting certain planning applications. The county councillors, too, won praise last year for turning down an application by Hanson Aggregates to quarry gravel at a site between Northmoor and Standlake. That was in November 2008.

But Hansons have appealed and there is to be a public enquiry in Northmoor beginning on November 17. There is no space here to set out the arguments against this application (risk of flooding, archaeology, footpaths, lorry traffic etc). In 1945 there was one gravel pit in the Lower Windrush area; now there are between 40 and 50!

Big corporations can pay for lawyers and technical experts. Villagers have no such resources. We have formed a group, Outrage, to co-ordinate our resistance. For more information please visit outragecampaign.blogspot.com. Donations (if you are kind) may be sent to The Treasurer, Outrage, Greenfields, Church Road, Northmoor, Witney OX29 5SX.

James Craig, Standlake