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NSC Home Page > EUAS Contents > Sheet B6 (Local Residents)
Appendices
MODULE: THE LIMESTONE INQUIRY, 21ST CENTURY
Sheet B6 (Local Residents)
Representatives of local residents
You represent the residents living in the areas around the RQH quarry. At the Inquiry you will have to present your arguments against the extension of the quarry.
You and the other representatives should first read this briefing. Then discuss the arguments you will put forward in a two-minute presentation at the Inquiry. You may want to elect a single person to speak, or share it between you.
The main points of your case
The quarry is ugly, dirty and noisy. It is only 150 m from the nearest houses.
Ugly - the quarry is a blot on the landscape, and a totally alien feature, a scar in otherwise beautiful countryside.
Dirty - you suffer from dust falling in and around your homes. Dust comes from drilling, blasting and stone crushing. There is even more dust when they tip waste on dry and windy days.
Noisy - you suffer from the noise of machinery and traffic.
The quarry operators say they will restore the quarry at the end of its life. However, you are suspicious because in the past, many sites have not been restored properly. They have left ugly heaps of waste.
The lorries from the quarry are too big for small rural roads. They cause a lot of dirt in the air and mud on the roads. Some of the lorries are not covered as they should be. The wheel-washing equipment seems inadequate when the quarry is busy or in summer, when water supplies are sometimes cut. The lorries are often driven too fast.
RQH say the quarry extension will create extra employment. But statistics show that employment in the quarries has fallen consistently over the last half century (Table 2). So local people and local shops get less benefit from the quarry, even if it does create some employment further away.
Year
1953
1963
1970
1976
1985
1995
2001
Number employed in quarries
4978
4042
3300
2180
1560
1342
1048
Table 2 Employment statistics in the National Park 1953 - 2001