Waverley Borough Council
Residents' concern over Cranleigh clay trucks
PROPOSALS to extract clay from the former Swallow's Tiles factory site have set alarm bells ringing in the Cranleigh area.
The new owners of the land in Bookhurst Road are seeking permission to extract 100,000 tonnes of clay a year.
People have until Friday (March 19) to lodge applications against the plan, which would see 20-tonne trucks making an estimated 40 trips a day through the village.
Agents for the owners, Inverdunning Limited, are seeking consent from Surrey County Council for new conditions for mineral working at the site, together with its restoration and aftercare.
Friday's deadline is for representations to Waverley Borough Council, which is being consulted on the proposal.
People living close to the site met last Wednesday to discuss the likely impact of the extraction plan, which they said could see a four-axle truck passing through the village every 15 minutes, with the site operating from 7am to 6pm Monday to Friday and from 7am to 1pm on Saturdays.
This has caused serious concern among residents, with road safety being the highest priority.
"The trucks' route from the site would potentially pass two key junctions on the Ewhurst Road, which are on the school run to Park Mead and St Cuthbert Mayne schools," said one of those campaigning against the plans, Zoe Powell.
The campaigners fear that in addition to the obvious hazards of having such large trucks on the unsuitable local road infrastructure, the clay could make the road extremely slippery as they said industrial wheel washing systems were often ineffective for clay removal.
"Congestion is already a problem on the High Street, so a truck every 15 minutes could have a serious impact in addition to the dirt, dust and considerable noise as they pass," said Ms Powell.
They have also raised fears that the clay extraction could cause a considerable increase in noise pollution to homes in the vicinity of the site.
It was previously used for the manufacture of specialist, hand-made tiles. But prior to its closure in 2008 only around 2,000 tonnes of clay was extracted each year and all of it was used on the site.
Under the present proposal all the clay would be taken elsewhere, either for brick or tile-making or engineering uses. At the rate of extraction proposed it is expected the top layer of weathered clay will take about four years to remove.
However, below that is a layer of wet clay and, although not as good, does have uses, as a result of which extraction could continue until 2042.
Ms Powell said leaflets were going to be delivered to homes on the likely lorry route and to village shops in a bid to persuade people to register their objections.
Cranleigh
Ewhurst