Residents urged to respond to plans to extract two million tonnes of minerals at Ironbridge Power Station site
Residents have been urged to respond to plans to extract nearly two million tonnes of gravel and sand from the Ironbridge Power Station development before the deadline.
Councillors have warned of the possible ramifications of plans to mine 1.9 million tonnes of sand and gravel required from the project, effectively creating a quarry alongside the A4169.
Following a public meeting held at Coalbrookdale and Ironbridge Community Centre on Monday night, concerns had been raised that residents only had a few days left to respond to the plans, with the deadline on Friday.
Councillor Claire Wilde, Shropshire Council member for Severn Valley said her parish had applied for a two-week extension and urged others to do the same.
"There has been the statutory 21-day response time which I think is too short for people to respond to an application of this size," Councillor Wilde said.
"Buildwas has been granted a 14-day extension. The sand and gravel application is huge, it'll probably take a week to read, it's a lot to digest.
"There are concerns about the application which centre around the amount of heavy traffic and what that will bring to residents along the A4169 and B4380 as well as the route and times they will travel.
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"It's important people not only realise the deadline, but that this application is a big application and people need to understand what's going on and what it could bring."
Harworth, the developer behind the project, has suggested that the rail line into the old power station site - that goes over the Grade II listed Albert Edward Bridge - could be reopened to carry minerals and to take demolition material away.
Shropshire Councillor for Much Wenlock, David Turner, said: "I know that many people are keen to ensure that the use of the rail line is reestablished. I’m pleased to note that the rail connection remains central to the redevelopment plans, to move materials off-site and in the longer-term for passenger services that will hopefully help connect to Telford and the West Midlands conurbation.
"Rail transport would be used to remove most of the material from the site, including 700,000 tonnes of pulverised fuel ash and around two million tonnes of sand and gravel. This will be a new quarry alongside the A4169, south of the existing Buildwas Quarry."
