Wallingford residents fear suggested site for 750 homes could first be used for gravel extraction (From Herald Series)

Wallingford residents fear suggested site for 750 homes could first be used for gravel extraction

7:00am Wednesday 3rd February 2010

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RESIDENTS fear land north of Wallingford put forward as a potential site for 750 homes could be used as a gravel pit for over a decade before building begins.

Oxfordshire County Council has told protesters from the No To Site A campaign that 1.4m tonnes of sand and gravel underneath the fields north of Wilding Road would take seven years to extract and “considerably longer” to infill.

The council has confirmed the deposits could be excavated before, or during, house-building if the site is eventually approved for housing by South Oxfordshire District Council.

Consultations on whether it should be listed as one of the council’s preferred options for the 750 homes, which must be built in the town by 2026, continue until Wednesday, February 24.

Mike Rose, one of the founders of the No To Site A group, said: “Oxfordshire County Council has made it quite plain they will not lose the gravel.

“There is a real fear that building houses on this site would require the extraction of these minerals.

“The site is currently way down the list for gravel extraction, but if 750 houses go in, then it is going to prompt them to start trying to excavate it.

“It would turn north of Wallingford into a massive industrial complex with high levels of noise and dust.”

Two years ago, the county council consulted on which sites in Wallingford should be excavated in the future for the mineral deposits.

At the time, Wallingford Town Council told County Hall it was opposed to any gravel extraction in or around the town, while residents near Site A signed a petition against any possible extraction.

County councillor Lynda Atkins, who is undecided where in the town houses should be built, said: “There had previously been a feeling that if the gravel is dug out at some stage in the future, it may stop the housing.

“This new prospect would probably be the worst case scenario for people living nearby.”

SODC launched the latest consultation on housing in Wallingford after commissioning Kidlington-based urban planners Studio REAL to look again at where the homes should be built.

The process had previously reached an impasse when the shortlisting of sites at Winterbrook and south of Wantage Road triggered the widespread anger of nearby residents.

When Studio REAL was asked to decide which of the two sites was more suitable for the new homes, they instead recommended the previously rejected Site A.

Ms Atkins said: “The process has been incredibly badly managed from start to finish. I feel 750 houses is too many for Wallingford, hence all the trouble in finding somewhere to build them.”

County officers have told SODC that County Hall’s objection to building on the site and jeopardising future access to the gravel could be overcome if the deposits were extracted before or during the development.

County spokesman Owen Morton said: “SODC are consulting on the proposal and we will be assessing the implications of development of this site from a number of policy angles, including minerals, before coming to a formal view.”

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