Minerals & Waste - Eynsham & Northmoor
Proposed gravel extraction at Eynsham and Northmoor, West Oxon District
The Windrush Valley, Witney, has long been a favourite spot for sand extraction, as is evidenced by the many old pits in the area.
Nine parish councils in West Oxfordshire have set up ENOUGH, a pressure group opposing further gravel extraction in the Windrush and Evenlode valleys. Ninety-five per cent of gravel for Oxfordshire comes from the Lower Windrush area and forty-five per cent of Lower Windrush has been excavated since the War. ENOUGH was set up in response to an OCC consultation exercise which set out to identify possible sites for future extraction.
Hanson Aggregates put in two Planning Applications with OCC to extract gravel at Eynsham and Northmoor, however planning permission has been refused for gravel extraction at Stonehenge Farm, Northmoor. In April 2010, Hansons appealed against the refusal.
CPRE West Oxfordshire District has lent their support to the Northmoor pressure group and the Eynsham Society in their opposition to the applications and is backing ENOUGH in their campaign.
In early October 2010 the news came that Hansons’ appeal against OCC’s refusal to allow extraction of gravel at Stonehenge Farm, Northmoor, had been allowed. The application had been previously refused, by a majority vote of OCC’s Planning Committee and against the advice of OCC’s officers, mainly because of fears of the increased risk of flooding in the area (which has been badly affected by flooding in the past). The inspector was of the opinion that the possible risk of flooding carried less weight than the need for OCC to meet the current target for mineral extraction set by central government.
However, in May 2011, Hansons notified the Eynsham Parish Council (see weblink below) that they intend to withdraw their application for gravel extraction in the Cassington / Eynsham area, which was submitted in August 2007, and which was due to be determined by OCC in June.
CPRE Oxfordshire has consistently supported the local campaign against extraction on this site, not so much because of the flood risk, but because of the cumulative damage that is being inflicted on the Lower Windrush valley which is now heavily exploited from Witney to the Thames at Newbridge. Whilst the Lower Windrush Valley Project is doing sterling work in improving biodiversity in the area and increasing public access, this is at best a small compensation for the damage done. It remains the case that the traditionally farmed landscape is being permanently transformed into a network of lakes and wetland and that local residents see very little local benefit for the increase in noise, traffic and disturbance to the water table, as well as the loss of the familiar environment.
Find Out More
Below are a list of links to further information regarding this campaign: