Proposed Silica Sand excavation by Sibelco at Marham / Shouldham
I wish to raise my objection against the above proposal and also express my extreme disgust at the stealthy and secretive way this envisaged development has been planned.
The first knowledge that I and most of the other 46 homes on Plumtree Park had of this proposal was through a letter pushed through my door on Saturday the 4th of August informing us of a public meeting to be held at Shouldham on Monday 6th of August.
I attended that meeting and discovered that this proposal had not been heard about by most of the population of both Shouldham and Marham and the standard reply to most of our questions was that this matter was only at the consultation stage and therefore any objections would be discussed when the actual planning application was submitted.
The Sibelco representative who was there said that although they had many sites for sand and gravel extraction throughout England they did not have one using the same methods as this proposal would use so therefore we could not see a working site to establish actual noise, pollution and environmental issues which would ensue.
When asked whether they had already purchased the land or come to an agreement to purchase upon planning consent we were told that that would obviously have been the first consideration before submitting this scheme but no definative answer.
When asked about "working hours" we were told that they normally worked from 8 am to 6 pm BUT as the dredging machine and pumps did not require an operative they could be running constantly 24/7. This area is a very quiet rural location and any sounds reverberate over great distance and could cause major disturbance.
A parish counselor from Marham said they would be convening a special meeting about this but probably not till October despite the grave concerns of our village.
My final point is that obviously a scheme of this size must have taken many months of planning, consultation and discussions with many people YET we, the people of Marham and Shouldham, have been kept completely in the dark and blindsided by the sudden disclosure.
Sibelco is a Belgium company and should have had the decency to consult initially with the people that will be affected by this scheme but apart from a small statutory notice in the E.D.P which nobody saw they chose to keep this scheme secret till the very last minute.
Will you please acknowledge receipt of this email and keep me informed of any further developments which come to your attention,