Object

Representation ID: 92038

Received: 09/08/2018

Respondent: Mrs & Mrs T Goldsmith

Number of people: 2

Concerns for site SIL02 for the extraction of Silica Sand from land at Shouldham & Marham.

I live in a property in Marham village that would overlook the site and would be approximately 500m from the boundary of the site.

I have the following concerns:

1. There would be dust pollution in the air which would come from the site which could potentially cause silicosis or breathing related illnesses. Whilst you state that dust would not travel beyond 250m of the boundary of the site I don't know how this would be able to be controlled as surely it is dependant on wind strength and direction.

2. There would be noise from the site, as following a meeting held by Shouldham parish council with a representative from the company proposing to run the site, they stated that they would have to remove the top layers of the soil and clay before they can get to the sand. They would then use water to create a lake and float a dredge on top to pump the sand out through a pipeline. We would then have excavation noise and pumping noise from the site. Some of which could be 24 hours a day as the company stated that the pumping could operate 24 hours a day.

3. The creation of a lake for the dredging to work would significantly increase the number of birds to the area which as you state in the proposal the site cannot be turned into a lake at the end of a project as it would be a hazard for the RAF Base as it would increase bird strikes for the aircraft so how can they create a lake for the extraction process.

4. The operating company stated that they have not operated a dredging system for sand removal before, therefore our worries are that if this system didn't work they would then revert to excavating the sand mechanically and transporting the sand to leziate by road causing even more noise issues. The roads around Marham and Shouldham would not be able to cope with this amount of traffic or weight of vehicles.

5. There would be light pollution from the site as presumably it would have to have security lighting around the site.

6. Concern regarding security at the site to prevent anyone drowning at the site, as flooded quarries like Bawsey have had drownings as people are attracted to swim in them during summer months. Also vandalism and theft and unauthorised camping which has also happened at Bawsey as these types of sites can attract unsociable behaviour to the area.

7. Environmental damage to the wildlife in the area as we do get a lot of wildlife including deer that travel from the woods across the fields and back to the safety of the woods.

8. The impact on the value of our property. We only purchased our property in January 2017. We purchased it because of its peaceful location and the views, all of which would be taken away by this proposal and nobody else is going to want to purchase our property or any other property in the village now that this proposal has been put forward. Whilst the possibility of this site is still possible the villages of Marham and Shouldham are going to be areas that nobody wants to buy properties in so we will be unable to afford to move away from it.

9. What would the site look like after all the sand has been removed as you state it can't be flooded to create a lake as you cannot attract more birds to the area due to the close proximity of the RAF base and the hazard of bird strikes for the aircraft. Does this mean it will be left as a scar on the landscape or is it likely to end up as a landfill site. We would then have to contend with smell as well as noise from lorries to the site.