Anti-quarry group in joint calls for action

A campaign group fighting to reduce the amount of sand and gravel quarried in Staffordshire has joined forces with county councillors.

Members of the Gravel Group have been working alongside county leaders over claims that the sand and gravel quota is more than six times higher than Warwickshire, the second highest contributor in the West Midlands.

It has been estimated that four quarries around Alrewas, Orgreave and Kings Bromley will produce 37.5 million tonnes of sand and gravel this year – 65 per cent of the West Midlands contribution.

The county has pledged to lobby for the figure to be cut after regeneration leader Councillor Robert Marshall dubbed it unfair and unsustainable.

A proposal to reduce the figure to 55 per cent has been tabled by the Regional Assembly.

Anne Anderson, campaign group spokeswoman, said: "We've been working with our county councillor to have the quota reduced to a more equitable level. Warwickshire is the second highest contributor and it provides only 10 per cent to the region. This is patently unfair.

"We support the council's assertion that the cake size should be reduced before the Regional Assembly starts cutting the slices. Regional shares are dictated on purely historic grounds and this must change now."

Councillor Marshall said Staffordshire had some of the finest deposits of minerals in the UK and while it was good for employment and for the local economy, excessive quarrying blighted the countryside.

Gravel Group was founded a year ago when quarrying companies lodged plans to begin major extractions in the area.