Battle begins on gravel pits (From Bournemouth Echo)

Battle begins on gravel pits

7:00pm Tuesday 13th February 2007

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TOWN hall chiefs and residents action group Wrage have joined forces to fire the opening salvo in what they expect to be a long battle to save green and pleasant land at Roeshot Hill and Walkford from becoming gravel pits and rubbish dumps.

Christchurch council and hundreds of concerned residents raised objections to Hampshire's minerals strategy in July last year when areas bordering the borough boundary were earmarked for possible future gravel works and landfill.

Council officers and leaders of the Wrage - Walkford Roeshot Action Group Executive - lobby group appeared at the plan's preliminary public examination held in Winchester where they advanced their arguments against the gravel workings where the fallout could blight surrounding homes, roads and countryside for 20 years.

But despite airing their concerns and getting a fair hearing from the inspector, both bodies are keeping their powder dry for further skirmishes before the issue is finally decided.

North Highcliffe and Walkford ward councillor Sally Derham-Wilkes said: "We were sympathetically listened to by the inspector but I fear that we must be ready to oppose the next stage of the consultation when I expect to see the Walkford and Roeshot sites included as preferred sites."

And Wrage spokesman Peter Martin pledged his group's continuing commitment to fighting the proposals.

He said: "We will let residents know when the next stage of consultation is approaching to make sure that Hampshire County Council is once again made fully aware of the deep concerns held by residents in this area, and their total opposition to these two sites ever being used for quarrying and land-fill."

Campaigners are now awaiting publication of the Planning Inspector's report in May to see if he has deleted the Walkford and Roeshot sites or if other suggested changes have been incorporated into the strategy.

If the areas remain within the strategy, both Christchurch council and Wrage will raise a formal objection when Hampshire produces a Minerals Sites Plan later in the year.

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