STOP THE QUARRY

SAVE THE COMMON FIELD

Downloads

· Two villages and community life under threat

· The Common Field does not divide Brockham and Betchworth - rather it provides an historic and important link between them. The effect of the quarry will be devastating on this link.

· Surrey County Council intend to extract over 700,000 tonnes of sand from the Common Field - an area of over 45 acres

· IF the quarry proposal goes through, the impact will be significant on the communities of Brockham, Betchworth, Buckland, Boxhill and the surrounding area:

· Noise, pollution, dust, water pollution
· Possible future landfill close to villages
· Fall in local house prices
· Danger to health and safety from increased traffic movements

Write your objection letter today!

It is vital that letters of objection are written now!

The initial deadline is 31st December, 2004. Although Surrey County Council have stated "We
would appreciate your views by the end of the year, but additional comments will accepted by 28th February 2005", it will have far more impact if the letters meet the first deadline. So Please HURRY!

The number of individual letters will be logged, so it is important that you ask anyone and
everyone that is affected by these proposals to write, particularly if you are seeing family or friends over the Christmas period.

To help you compose your letter we have identified some key material issues that should be used. You perhaps only want to use three or four We have been advised that it is far better to make 'technical' arguments rather than those based on 'sentiment'.

In response to the Report on Assessment of Potential Mineral Zones for Extraction of Sand and Gravel in Surrey - August - 2004

· The zone is located in Metropolitan Green Belt, approximately 600m to the south of the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and approximately 400m to the south of the Area of Great Landscape Value. The site is very open in character and visible from the AONB, National Trust land and other public access land. There are panoramic views across the site from local rights of way towards the AONB, which forms a backdrop to those views. If the site is screened with planting and 4m high bunds as suggested in the initial report there will be impact to the openness of the Green Belt.

· The County Highways Authority considers that Old Reigate Road is not suitable for access to the site and that a conveyor or road link under the road would be required. In the light of the area of potential working advised by a letter JJ Franks sent to local residents, the cost and feasibility of this would surely be open to question, as well as the issue of potentially affecting the structural integrity of Old Reigate Road. A conveyor across the road would lead to significant visual intrusion and potential impact on listed buildings to the north of the site.

· Betchworth village is designated as a Conservation Area and it has a number of listed buildings and structures. There would be undoubted impact to the setting of the conservation area and listed buildings.

· The principal village footpath runs adjacent to the zone. The main road through the Village is narrow, winding and without a pavement for most of its length. It is a favoured short cut for commuters travelling between Gatwick and Dorking who wish to avoid Reigate. It is hazardous for pedestrians and especially for parents with young children.

Please write immediately quoting reference 'PMZ55 - Betchworth Common Field' to:
Roger Hargreaves
Head of Planning
Surrey County Council
County Hall
Kingston-Upon-Thames, KT1 2DY.

CAMEL - Campaign Against Mineral Extraction and Landfill

CAMEL is the joint action group, supported by the Parish Councils, from Betchworth and Buckland
seeking to STOP the development of quarries and landfill sites between Dorking and Reigate. For
further information please visit the web site at http://www.camel.org.uk or call:
Corky Gormly 01737 841641, Colin Stimpson 01737 842668 or Nick Caddick 01737 844599