Gravel protesters celebrate (From The Oxford Times)

Gravel protesters celebrate

5:51pm Monday 24th November 2008 in Search

There were whoops of joy at County Hall as villagers defeated plans for a massive gravel pit on their doorstep.

Hanson Aggregate had proposed to extract 1.55 million tones of sand and gravel over eight years from a 146 acre site near Standlake.

Oxfordshire county councillors had been recommended to approve the application after the Environment Agency raised no objections on flooding grounds. However, villagers from Northmoor, Moreton and Bablockhythe, backed by Witney MP and Tory leader David Cameron, raised fears that 10-metre high bunds of earth could exacerbate the risk of flooding in the area.

Protesters, above, lobbied County Hall, where a motion to refuse planning permission was backed by eight votes to six.

Protest group chairman Julie Hankey said afterwards: “I’m just delighted that the council decided to do the right thing. They understood they can’t put people’s lives and businesses at risk.”