OPPONENTS of plans to dig for gravel in South Oxfordshire have welcomed news that a key minerals policy has been scrapped.

Oxfordshire County Council said yesterday that it had shelved its minerals and waste core strategy.

Under the plan, 1.2 million tonnes a year would have been dug in Oxfordshire, with a site in Cholsey replacing Sutton Courtenay for gravel extraction for 25 years from 2020.

But the council has decided to go back to the drawing board after planning inspector Jonathan King questioned how the council had consulted other local authorities on the issue.

At a meeting at County Hall in Oxford, councillors said the authority should use the opportunity to review its plans for the south of the county.

Didcot East and Hagbourne councillor Patrick Greene said: “I believe that the minerals assessment being carried out now will give a lower figure and I hope that in that case we will not need a pit at Cholsey.”

Wallingford independent councillor Lynda Atkins added that the council should use the opportunity to listen to campaigners who lived near potential sites.

She said: “If somebody says something is wrong and that something happens to be at the end of their garden, they could be right.

“The fact that somebody may have a deep personal interest does not invalidate their opinion.

“I think it’s a good opportunity to have all the information about the Cholsey site properly assessed.

“I think if we do that people will understand that there are things about the site which would make it a very bad place to dig for gravel.”

But Wallingford mayor Bernard Stone, a member of CAGE (Communities Against Gravel Extraction), said campaigners would not become too complacent.

He said: “Just because the strategy has been withdrawn doesn’t mean that the threat is going away.

“We still think we have an extremely strong case to resist gravel extraction between Wallingford and Cholsey.

“The county council can now have a more thorough look at the evidence CAGE has produced and this is the opportunity for a complete review.”

Cabinet member for the environment David Nimmo-Smith said: “Under the changing legislation we have a duty to co-operate with other authorities. We will adopt an open approach.”

No timetable has yet been announced for preparing a new strategy.