A THURROCK councillor has called for the borough to be given 'time to breathe' and described plans for a huge quarry as 'an early death sentence for residents'.

Cllr Fraser Massey represents the East Tilbury ward, where he stands as a non-aligned councillor, and he has been alarmed by plans for the new quarry that would stretch across a large area of rural landscape between East Tilbury, Linford and Stanford-le-Hope.

The scheme has been widely opposed by residents – many of whom have attempted to make their views known across two digital platforms run by Thurrock Council – but many have struggled with the system.

That led to a paper petition being set up against the quarry, which is still available to be signed at outlets in the villages – before the deadline for consultation ends on Thursday.

Cllr Massey says: "I agree with the consultees Listed Buildings/Conservation, Essex Field Club, Essex Wildlife Trust, among others and object to this application. The Highways consultee also seems to have some reservations as have requested more information at time of writing this.

"My reasons for objection are:

Highways

Buckingham Hill Road is already very busy with vehicles and HGVs, this extra traffic will cause more degradation to the road surface and even mitigating factors in the applicant's transport proposal (such as Buckingham Hill Lights) are not fully in place to mitigate. These roads are already very muddy which is a constant issue residents are dealing with everyday.

The road crossing which is planned along Walton Hall Road will cause queueing traffic on which is quite a sharp rural blind bend, this road has a lot of accidents already and lorries using it to cross and construction will only increase the accidents and chance of fatality,

Air Pollution

Air quality tests show this nearby area is already has some of the highest levels of air pollution in the UK, the areas that are higher generally all have airports or other impacting factors. The extra traffic and dust will only add to this and residents will be greatly affected.

Combine this with particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) which would be increased with more traffic movements, and the chances of being affected by poor air quality and the related illnesses increases.

Noise

The increase in noise will be noticeable as this site is close to residential properties (some also listed) and a large secondary school. This area has had decades of noise, smells and other problems from industry, just as things are 'settling' down and with the new wildlife centre this proposal will cause noise to be a major issue again for residents.

Wildlife & Environmental

As consultees have reported this if granted will irreplaceably damage the wildlife and the greenbelt. At a time when so much of the area in Thurrock as a whole are losing green spaces due to development, we should not further add to the issue by turning what is a fantastic wildlife habitat into a quarry. Those consulted do not believe the mitigation suggested will in any way be appropriate to protect the wildlife and landscape.

School and homes

This planned development is very close to Linford and also the new housing area in Stanford-le-hope (Maple Park), this is also very close to a large secondary school which many Children from East Tilbury ward attend. Having a development of this size so close to residential properties and a centre for education is a detriment to those residents and the pupils attending.

The noise and pollution know no boundaries and along with the dust would directly impact those living and learning here. Also a large main gas pipe runs near the site, this could prove to be a disaster if breached.

Submitting comments

Many residents have reported multiple issues making comments via the Council website, this was reported to the Council at the time. I honestly feel the amount of comments would be far higher if everyone who tried to submit a comment was successful.

"To sum up the residents of this part of Thurrock have suffered for many decades due to industry, enough is enough, our air quality and roads are both shockingly bad. If this goes ahead along with the Lower Thames Crossing it will be an early death sentence for residents who already have much higher early death levels and illnesses due to air quality.

"After decades of industry and hundreds of new homes built recently let this area have a chance to 'Breathe' and grow as communities, the last thing anyone wants is a large quarry right in the middle. I object to this development, and have not met a single resident who supports it."