Flood fears over bid to extract gravel at Egham

Jan 19 2009 By Russell Butt

Gravel extraction

An aggregates company is requesting permission to extract 2.3 million tonnes of sand and gravel from fields in Egham amid fears of an increased risk of flooding.

Hanson Aggregates has lodged plans with Surrey County Council for the 57-hectare site, which would entail extraction and restoration of land across two sections of grounds over a 10-year period.

The larger section lies between Whitehall Lane and Milton Park, and a smaller, more northerly section between Stroude Road and the M25.

Hanson says the land will be worked in small sections over the decade so only one small area is disturbed at a time. The land will then be returned to agricultural land, wildflower grassland and wet woodland and will involve areas of native tree and hedgerow planting.

A public exhibition was held last summer outlining the plans for residents, whose main concern over the proposals was an increased risk of flooding.

However, land and planning manager for Hanson, David Normington, said: "Our specialist consultants have carried out a comprehensive survey of the local water regime over a number of years and concluded that, with the comprehensive mitigation measures designed in the scheme, it will have no adverse effect."

An environmental impact assessment accompanies the application and examines other topics, including traffic, dust, visual impact as well as landscape and ecology.