Gravel threat back on the doorstep as Grundon buys up land

Residents celebrated in February last year when a new county council minerals strategy did not specifically name Wallingford and Cholsey as locations for extraction, because less gravel than expected was needed for housebuilding.

But the council then updated its strategy to estimate that one million tonnes would need to be extracted over the next 15 years, instead of 715,000 tonnes.

Now Grundon Waste Management, based in Benson, has bought a 165-acre plot of land at New Barn Farm, west of Wallingford Road, for £2.1m, with a view to extracting gravel there.

It emerged in November that the land had been sold by the Bosely Trust, but now Grundon has come forward to confirm it was the organisation which bought it.

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Grundon estates director Andrew Short said: “This land has previously been identified for minerals extraction by Oxfordshire County Council.

“As we are proud to consider this part of Oxfordshire as our home territory, we want to make sure that if this area is to be worked, it will be Grundon operating the site. We always aim to make sure our operations have minimal impacts on the local communities in which we operate.

"We want to work with the local community to understand their points of view and see if we can work together to deliver longer-term community goals for the area.”

Independent county councillor for Wallingford Lynda Atkins, also a member of the county council’s cabinet advisory group for minerals and waste, said the council would be considering its revised minerals strategy on Tuesday, March 24.

She added: “Under the revised strategy, Oxfordshire will need at least one new gravel pit.

"I will be opposing the increase in the new strategy – I don’t think local people have been properly consulted.”

Mr Short said a planning application for a gravel extraction site would include a full environmental impact assessment to identify potential environmental issues.