Object
Preferred Options consultation document
Representation ID: 98471
Received: 20/09/2019
Respondent: Mr & Mrs Chamberlin
Number of people: 2
In response to your letter dated 13th September, we are appalled to discover that Mansom Plantation in Stratton Strawless is proposed as a preferred option site for the removal of sand and gravel. It has not been included in the 2018 initial consultation document. We live opposite the site and we absolutely object to it.
We request that the following comments are carefully and seriously considered.
* The site is too close to residential properties and it will destroy the rural nature of the area.
* The excavation and processing plant will create constant high levels of noise nuisance and pollution to be endured over an eight year period, perhaps longer. It does not say if it will also require flood lights.
* It will seriously disturb and disrupt a variety of wildlife and destroy their habitats. Mansom Plantation is a migratory route for deer, to neighbouring woodlands to the north and opposite the site.
* The estimated 76 movements of heavy vehicles per day entering and leaving the site will greatly increase the traffic trying to access the very busy A140. There is little to prevent them coming along Shortthorn Road, which would be intolerable.
There is an existing consent for a holiday lodge park, (20041641), which is subject to conditions, (S106 agreement 5.12.06). This includes a 25 year Landscape Management Plan (Dec 2007). We request that you refer to these documents and item 4.8.2 (1 to 5), relating to ponds and watercourses: "Protect the small colony of Great Crested Newts and the breeding ground and enhance their habitat and refuge".
An application to use this site for construction plant training in the area where the lodges are to be constructed is awaiting a decision, (20190448). Please read the Tree Officer's comments relating to retained tree groups and the arboriculture assessment. If mineral extraction is allowed, an area of over 20 hectares will be totally destroyed.
The committee members have commented over the distance from the proposed sites of 250 metres. See Meeting Minutes item 11.4 of the Norfolk Minerals and Waste Local Plan Review - Preferred Options Consultation, "Members were concerned that the consultation distance of 250 metres was not far reaching enough especially when some of the proposed sites are in locations which had not experienced anything similar before. The sites had the potential to affect whole communities, some of which are further away than 250 metres from the proposed site". We agree that this is an insufficient distance from the sites to residential properties.
The site characteristics document says: MIN 213 would be likely to contain a processing plant, which the sand and gravel would be transported to by internal haul route. We assume the sand and gravel must be worked "wet" without dewatering, by using a natural watercourse on site and then grading the material. The site has ancient woodland and Hevingham Park is adjacent to it. This CWS is a very important local amenity. The Hydrogeology may be affected by the extraction process. The outfalls of watercourses that run off the north side of Mansom Plantation under the Hevingham Park roadway in 3 places are likely to run dry due to the extraction of aggregates. These watercourses eventually come together and run into the River Bure at Buxton. During the increasingly hot, dry spells we now experience, there is the potential to create harsh drought conditions for trees, ponds and wildlife.
The conifer plantation along the Shortthorn Road boundary of the site, which is said to provide screening, is inadequate, particularly during the autumn/ winter. The operation is likely to be visible and audible, due to the harvesting for timber on the perimeter in the last few years resulting in thinned areas with a lack of undergrowth.
We stress in the strongest terms, the detrimental effect approving this proposal will have on our home and that of our neighbours and how it will spoil our enjoyment in living here.
Mansom Plantation contributes greatly to the rural character of the parish of Stratton Strawless.
In response to your letter dated 13th September, we are appalled to discover that Mansom Plantation in Stratton Strawless is proposed as a preferred option site for the removal of sand and gravel. It has not been included in the 2018 initial consultation document. We live opposite the site and we absolutely object to it.
We request that the following comments are carefully and seriously considered.
* The site is too close to residential properties and it will destroy the rural nature of the area.
* The excavation and processing plant will create constant high levels of noise nuisance and pollution to be endured over an eight year period, perhaps longer. It does not say if it will also require flood lights.
* It will seriously disturb and disrupt a variety of wildlife and destroy their habitats. Mansom Plantation is a migratory route for deer, to neighbouring woodlands to the north and opposite the site.
* The estimated 76 movements of heavy vehicles per day entering and leaving the site will greatly increase the traffic trying to access the very busy A140. There is little to prevent them coming along Shortthorn Road, which would be intolerable.
There is an existing consent for a holiday lodge park, (20041641), which is subject to conditions, (S106 agreement 5.12.06). This includes a 25 year Landscape Management Plan (Dec 2007). We request that you refer to these documents and item 4.8.2 (1 to 5), relating to ponds and watercourses: "Protect the small colony of Great Crested Newts and the breeding ground and enhance their habitat and refuge".
An application to use this site for construction plant training in the area where the lodges are to be constructed is awaiting a decision, (20190448). Please read the Tree Officer's comments relating to retained tree groups and the arboriculture assessment. If mineral extraction is allowed, an area of over 20 hectares will be totally destroyed.
The committee members have commented over the distance from the proposed sites of 250 metres. See Meeting Minutes item 11.4 of the Norfolk Minerals and Waste Local Plan Review - Preferred Options Consultation, "Members were concerned that the consultation distance of 250 metres was not far reaching enough especially when some of the proposed sites are in locations which had not experienced anything similar before. The sites had the potential to affect whole communities, some of which are further away than 250 metres from the proposed site". We agree that this is an insufficient distance from the sites to residential properties.
The site characteristics document says: MIN 213 would be likely to contain a processing plant, which the sand and gravel would be transported to by internal haul route. We assume the sand and gravel must be worked "wet" without dewatering, by using a natural watercourse on site and then grading the material. The site has ancient woodland and Hevingham Park is adjacent to it. This CWS is a very important local amenity. The Hydrogeology may be affected by the extraction process. The outfalls of watercourses that run off the north side of Mansom Plantation under the Hevingham Park roadway in 3 places are likely to run dry due to the extraction of aggregates. These watercourses eventually come together and run into the River Bure at Buxton. During the increasingly hot, dry spells we now experience, there is the potential to create harsh drought conditions for trees, ponds and wildlife.
The conifer plantation along the Shortthorn Road boundary of the site, which is said to provide screening, is inadequate, particularly during the autumn/ winter. The operation is likely to be visible and audible, due to the harvesting for timber on the perimeter in the last few years resulting in thinned areas with a lack of undergrowth.
We stress in the strongest terms, the detrimental effect approving this proposal will have on our home and that of our neighbours and how it will spoil our enjoyment in living here.
Mansom Plantation contributes greatly to the rural character of the parish of Stratton Strawless.