A group of campaigners will be stepping out in protest at plans for a quarry near Lichfield.
The walk takes place on September 27, starting at 2.45pm, over part of the Alrewas West (Kings Bromley) site proposed for gravel extraction and residents are invited to join them. The route will take approximately one hour to cover, and will be over relatively flat farmland, and public footpaths.
The protest will start and finish in a field in Crawley Lane, Kings Bromley (next to the Kings Bromley Showground) and the field will also be used as the car park for the day. The campaigners have been offered the use of the cricket pavilion opposite the car park to provide walkers with refreshments afterwards.
Local Councillors and Michael Fabricant MP will be accompanying the campaigners on their walk. It will also be an opportunity for residents to see the latest display material, which will include maps of the Staffordshire Historic Environment Record of the area.
Protesters are particularly concerned that eight high-pressure gas delivery pipes, of up to 36 inch diameter, radiate from the Transco Gas Pumping Station on the Alrewas Kings Bromley Road over the Wychnor North and South sites proposed for sand and gravel extraction. They point out that accidental fracture of one of these pipes, or of the Gas Station itself, could destroy the surrounding countryside. In 2008 this horrifying scenario actually occurred, in a horrifying incident at a North American Transco gas station.
The campaigners are also making people aware of plans to use the canal at picturesque Fradley Junction to transport sand and gravel from the Wychnor South Site. Currently they are collecting petition signatures regarding this to send to Staffordshire County Council.
The County Council’s response to the West Midlands Regional Assembly on this issue is in the process of being prepared and should be ready for submission in January. The campaigners have the full support of parish and district councillors in asking residents to write letters objecting to proposals for gravel extraction on both sites.
The address to write to is: Matthew Griffin, Minerals Policy Team Leader, Staffordshire County Council, Riverway, Stafford, ST16 3TJ. Or email: mat.griffin@staffordshire.gov.uk
For more information, email: gravel.group@btinternet.co.uk.
