Anger over quarry plans at Hamble Airfield site
Concerns have been raised over controversial plans for a quarry at a former Hampshire airfield
Last updated 16th Jan 2023
People living in Hamble have said the proposals would be "devastating" for the village.
CEMEX UK Operations Ltd wants to extract up to 1.7 million tonnes of sand and gravel from the site over a period of 6 – 7 years.
Alistair Garrod from the Hamble Residential Peninsula Group is worried: "We can't have 1,200 school children who are trying to walk to school while brushing shoulders with massive HGVs just two feet away from them".
Eastleigh MP Paul Holmes has objected to the scheme, saying he is "completely opposed" to the plans.
He said the proposal is in "absolutely the wrong location for this type of facility".
A spokesperson for Hampshire County Council said: “The potential impacts on the highway on Hamble Lane, as well as the potential health impacts are all issues which are being considered as part of the planning process.
There is currently a public consultation on additional information submitted by the applicant.
This ends on 15 January 2023.
Consultees such as the Highway Authority, Highways England, Public Health and the Environmental Health Officer have all been consulted on the planning application and their response will be contained in the report to be submitted to the County Council’s Regulatory Committee ahead of considering the planning application.
“Information about the current Hamble Airfield sand and gravel extraction planning application can be found on the land planning and environment pages of the County Council’s website hants.gov.uk”
A CEMEX spokesperson said: "CEMEX continues to work closely with Hampshire County Council in relation to our proposals for the former Hamble Airfield.
"We have submitted additional information recently, and are awaiting the outcome of the latest consultation.
"Health and safety is the most important issue for CEMEX as a business, and one we take extremely seriously.
"We completely understand the community’s concerns in that regard and will take county highway’s advice with regard to any mitigation they consider necessary.
"Hampshire have a duty to provide sufficient sand and gravel for the county’s needs and have identified that they greatly need to increase their land-won aggregate landbank in order to meet this need.
"The sand and gravel from the quarry will be well placed to supply building and infrastructure projects in the local community as well as the needs of the community itself for building materials.
"Hamble is in a good location close to urban areas, allowing the site to sustainably serve the surrounding communities without HGVs having to travel long distances from elsewhere in the county which would be unsustainable.”