News Release

22nd September 2009

PROTEST WALK AGAINST STAFFORDSHIRE QUARRYING PLAN

Michael Fabricant will be joining protest walkers at 2.30pm on Sunday 27th September in Kings Bromley to protest against plans to start gravel quarrying in the Alrewas, Kings Bromley, Wychnor, Barton area. "I strongly oppose gravel extraction north-west of the A38. It will destroy our local environment and should not be permitted" Michael Fabricant says.

"At a time when we should be preserving the countryside and encouraging the production of food at home instead of importing produce, it would be unforgivable if permission were granted to rip up and destroy good agricultural land and destroy a pleasant environment for walkers. The farmland under the proposed diggers produce wheat, carrots, onions and potatoes as well as cereal crops. All this would be destroyed for ever by gravel extraction. And environmental experts tell me that flooding could become far worse in the surrounding area. The issue is made even more complicated by the existence of major gas pipe lines running under two of the proposed quarrying sites.

"The hedgerows and fields support a wide range of wildlife including hares, lapwings, cuckoos, and other rarer breeds.

"I do not accept assurances from the gravel companies that heavy trucks moving millions of tons of gravel each year will only use the A38. The A513 through Kings Bromley and Yoxall already suffer from excessive use by juggernauts; this will be exacerbated by gravel extraction even closer to those villages. "Staffordshire extracts far more than its fair share of gravel imposed on it by the West Midlands Region. The Conservative Party has already stated that in Government they would scrap regional policies on housing; I will aim to ensure that diktats from Birmingham on gravel extraction will be scrapped too."

The walk begins at 2.30pm on Sunday 27th September from the field by Crawley Lane, Kings Bromley.