26 Oct 2023
Smallford neighbours have once again found themselves having to fight against plans to convert what should be a country park into a massive quarry with a lifetime of 40 years.
Members of Smallford Residents Association have joined forces with nearby Ellenbrook Area Residents Association to oppose Brett Aggregates’ quarry application at Ellenbrook, which will blight their lives with noise, dust and traffic pollution caused by the operation.
SRA chairman Craig Tallents explained: “We have been fighting this application for the last seven years, including at a Full Planning Inquiry. Despite the applicant losing at every stage, they still come back with no regard to the decisions already made nor for the health of the local residents and their mental wellbeing.
“The pursuit of profit put once again above the interests of people. There has been no consultation, no engagement just the blind belief that we should accept their quarry and be grateful for all the risk that it brings to us as residents.”
It is feared that the application will pose a real threat to the health of nearby residents, and those people who depend on the drinking water under the proposed site, as the quarrying could disturb dangerous chemicals beneath the surface.
Mike Hartung of EARA said: “The area is home to the largest bromate contamination in Europe. The risk is that the extra deep extraction activities being pushed for by Brett will disturb the chemicals and cause it to enter the underground water supply and nearby rivers, causing harm to residents, wildlife and a large part of London’s drinking water.”
At a town hall meeting this week local Liberal Democrat county councillor, John Hale, spoke of his long campaign against the quarry and his efforts to see the country park established, ahead of an HCC development control committee meeting on Tuesday to determine whether the application is approved.
He told the St Albans Times: “I have been opposed to a quarry on this site since it was first proposed in 2016, it will destroy a precious local park, the wildlife that lives there and blight the lives of many residents. This is before considering the health issues that will arise from the quarrying activity and the potential risks related to the Bromate plume.
“I will be urging the members of the planning committee to reject this application, as they rejected the previous application. As was said at the recent meeting of residents affected by the proposals, this is the wrong place and the wrong time.”
The parish of Colney Heath, which the bulk of the site is on, has been impacted by more waste processing, landfill sites and quarries than any other parish in Hertfordshire.
Ahead of the meeting, St Albans MP Daisy Cooper said: “I repeat my calls for the county council to firmly reject this application. The dangers to health from quarries of this nature so close to where people live are well-documented.
“Although I’ve campaigned to change the law to prevent quarries being approved in close proximity to homes, the government has failed to act. It’s time for county councillors to step up and prevent the devastating air and potential groundwater pollution this proposal could bring.”
