Brooks questions Lafarge on Rayne Quarry

Brooks met with Lafarge this afternoon in the House of Commons to discuss the potential gravel pit at Broadfield Farm in Rayne. Lafarge is the world’s largest building materials company and has identified four million tonnes of sand and gravel on the Rayne site. This project is in its consultative stage and Essex County Council is currently conducting its third consultation with residents. The Council will take until May 2012 to assess the thousands of responses voiced on the planned developments.

Brooks met with residents from Rayne in September where he offered his wholehearted support to the villagers who are deeply concerned about the impact that such a site would have on the area, not only from the harm to the beautiful countryside, but also the impact it will have on village life. At the meeting today Brooks reflected the concerns of local people, including: noise and dust pollution, traffic issues, and the landscape and visual impact. Brooks stressed the importance for Lafarge to engage with the local community and proposed chairing a meeting between Lafarge and residents in on this issue in the first quarter of next year, prior to the draft submission of the Mineral Development Document.

Brooks said: “I fully support to people of Rayne in their objection to the proposed gravel site. Personally, I live very near such a site in Bredwell and I can understand the villagers concerns. Such developments can be extremely damaging to local life. I will be working hard to represent local people’s views to Lafarge throughout this process.”