New guidelines are the pits (From Herald Series)
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New guidelines are the pits
9:00am Wednesday 7th April 2010 in Leaders
Whoever wins next month’s General Election, there will be continuing pressure to build more homes, hospitals, schools and roads.
To help meet that need, the extraction of millions of tonnes of sand and gravel from our countryside will also continue.
But no one has explained why the target set for extraction in Oxfordshire is being increased by almost 20 per cent.
New Government guidelines mean that our target of 2.1m tonnes a year — double that of neighbouring Buckinghamshire — would make Oxfordshire the south-east’s main source of sand and gravel.
Over the years, the county has provided huge amounts of aggregates and many areas bear the marks of that extraction.
The county council is about to start consulting on the options for the future and it is vital that people organise themselves and speak up in defence of their local area.
