Quarry could 'ruin' Essex village

More than 50 locations across Essex are under consideration for new quarry sites. Proposals by Essex County Council would see the extraction of up to four million tonnes of sand and gravel each year, with around 80% of the minerals sourced used to build new homes.

19-year-old Tommy lives in Thorrington near Brightlingsea and is concerned about the impact a quarry might have on the village.

In a statement, Lee Scott, the Essex cabinet member for planning a growing economy said: “it’s not an optional exercise” and the county council is “obliged” to have a minerals plan.

He says “you can only extract minerals from where the minerals lay in the ground. We need them for our schools, for our homes, for our hospitals and we have to come up with the minerals from those sites.

At this stage no sites whatsoever have been identified and confirmed that they are going forward”.

Picture: Brightlingsea quarry.
Credit: Martin Giles/BBC.