Campaigners fighting Barford quarry plans urging for help in raising £10k for the 'last chance' to challenge the plans

Campaigners protesting against the quarry plans. Photo supplied

Campaigners fighting against plans for a quarry near Barford are urging people to help them raise £10,000 so that they can challenge the plans.

For the last six years residents living in and around Barford have been campaigning against the Warwickshire County Council Mineral Plan to open a large sand and gravel quarry on the edge of the village.

The campaigners suggest that the quarry could expose villagers to fine particulate dust - and permanently destroy the existing agricultural land, destroy ancient hedgerows, and scar the landscape.

After six years of delays and revisions the Warwickshire County Council’s Minerals Plan was scrutinised by the Inspector at a hearing last October.

The Inspector told the council to go back and revise it and now Warwickshire County Council have launched a new consultation on their Minerals Plan and given a deadline of January 7 for people to submit comments.

Now the campaign committee is looking to raise £10,000 within six weeks to pay for professional consultants to go through the plan in the hope of getting it withdrawn.

A fundraising page has been set up to help raise the money.

A meeting is also set to take place on Thursday (December 2) at 7.30pm in St Peter’s School hall in Barford, which residents can attend.

Malcolm Eykyn and Andrew Steel, committee members, said, “We have worked tirelessly for the last six years raising awareness about the proposed quarry threat as well as raising substantial funds to help fight our cause.

"This is our last chance to challenge the Plan – to leave it is to surrender at the final hurdle. We need to fight again and fight to succeed in ‘downing the Plan’”.

Oxford University’s college St. John’s owns the land near Barford and Wasperton that is earmarked for development.

The college has requested that Warwickshire County Council include it in its minerals land allocation plan which will allow a developer to extract sand and gravel from this 220-acre site which borders Barford.

To donate to the fundraising page go to: https://www.gofundme.com/f/stop-the-quarry-near-barford-last-chance