Gallagher Aggregates has issued a warning to Taylor Wimpey over the house builders' plans for a new development near Hermitage Quarry in Barming, Kent.
Good vibrations? Boss warns would-be residents of planned new homes right next to quarry they can have no complaints https://t.co/pkSqedqT9L pic.twitter.com/xLkMNu6hXu— KentOnline (@Kent_Online) June 4, 2020
Don’t complain if there’s noise, dust and vibrations - that’s the message from a quarry operator after a developer put forward plans for a new estate just 100m from its site.
Gallagher Aggregates has warned Maidstone Borough Council that any complaints from future residents about its operation should be given "absolutely no weight" if the development goes ahead.
Taylor Wimpey – the company oh so keen to sell those 187 quarry-side homes, and perhaps less concerned about the future well-being of those who buy one – commissioned a noise and vibration report. This found that although there would be an adverse impact on the closest homes, it "would not be prohibitive" if measures such as acoustic glazing and garden fencing were put in place.
Future residents may need to do more than keep their windows shut. A councillor warned:
They will feel it. All of us have felt the effects of the blasts. If it is approved, I hope they will inform people up front they will feel the vibrations.
Gallagher Aggregates won approval to extend the quarry for a further 23 years back in 2013. At the time, we posted When ancient woodland becomes the price for crushed aggregate.
But who wouldn't be surprised if Taylor Wimpey's housing plans were approved, given that the impact on people runs secondary to those of big business.
It was a similar case in Devon when the tin and tungsten mine at Drakelands was approved. At the time we posted how the health impacts from "56 households and up to 103 individuals" from blasting and low frequency vibration were cast aside, after officers recommended approval saying:
The protection to be afforded to residents has to be balanced with the reality of the scale of this particular mining operation which is one of the largest mines in Western Europe.
Balancing the reality in favour of Australian mining interests didn't help in the end. Drakelands, lest we forget, was one of the largest mines in Western Europe – right up until the point it ceased trading and appointed administrators.
