Smoke test shows proposed quarry will put villagers’ air at risk, claim campaigners

CAMPAIGNERS fighting plans for a massive sand and gravel quarry right next to the village of Barford say they have discovered a major health threat just as a critical deadline looms.

In an experiment using smoke machines on the edge of the proposed quarry site to simulate the spread of dust and fumes, the protesters say that they’ve established that pollutants would not disperse quickly, thus posing an obvious risk to health.

In a statement, the Stop the Barford Quarry said: “The results clearly demonstrate that particulates generated by sand and gravel extraction would not disperse swiftly, especially when temperature inversions occur, as they do 20 per cent to 30 per cent of the time in this location. A temperature inversions (a layer of warmer air sitting above a layer of cooler air) traps pollutants near the ground, leading to poor air quality and other effects, including slow dispersal and drift. The experiment clearly showed the smoke hanging close to ground level and being funnelled towards the village.”

The timing of their findings is crucial because Smiths Concrete – the company applying for the quarrying permission – will be submitting a list of answers this month to questions posed by Warwickshire County Council.

“These cover everything from noise, ecology, flood risk and many other points,” Anna Johnston, the spokesperson for the Stop the Barford Quarry said.

Ms Johnston said that once the council had received the information, it would have five days to consider it before putting the proposals out to further consultation over a period of 30 days. There had already been more than 2,000 objections, she said, and once the fresh round of consultations began, the protesters would have to object all over again.

In its statement, the Stop the Barford Quarry campaigners claimed the proposed 220-acre sand and gravel quarry – two-and-a-half times the size of Barford – would severely impact air quality across the area and harm residents’ health.

It declared: “Air pollution accounts for five per cent of UK deaths each year due to the unavoidable inhalation of air pollutants – tiny invisible particulates of noxious chemicals released by industrial workings and traffic – which cause asthma, chronic bronchitis, lung cancer, respiratory and cardiac diseases.”

After pointing out that the proposed quarry site is currently productive farmland, only a few hundred yards from homes and Barford primary school, the statement added: “Nearby Wellesbourne is a preferred option under the new South Warwickshire Local Plan for thousands of new houses, significantly increasing the number of residents who would be exposed over the lifespan of the quarry.”

And it went on: “The proposed quarry would extract and process 1.8 million tons of sand and gravel over ten to 15 years, releasing silica dust into the air and carrying it out of the site. Air quality would be further impacted by exhaust fumes from up to 220 HGVs a day travelling on the busy A429 up to M40/J15 and the A46 or down towards Stratford-upon-Avon and the Cotswolds.”

Ms Johnston said Warwickshire had 15 years’ of reserves of and gravel and recycled material. “There’s no need for it in Barford,” she said.

The Herald approached Smiths Concrete for a comment but did not get a response before going to press.