Local MP for Hertford & Stortford, Mark Prisk, has again written to the County Council stating his objection top the proposed quarry north of Bengeo.
In his letter to Planning Officer Felicity Hart, he writes: “I am writing to reiterate my objection to this application. Many of the underlying problems with the previous application, which the council rejected, remain with this application: the impact on air quality; traffic generation; the risks of pollution to the water supply. I understand the applicant has sought to provide additional information concerning soil contamination; a cumulative impact assessment and a Non- Technical Summary.”
He continues: “I support local residents’ views that these are inadequate and fail to satisfactorily answer concerns related to the original application. The desk-based soil contamination study fails to provide a full survey of surface chalk which would be the minimum required in these circumstances. The impact assessment is incomplete, lacking as it does any account of the impact on the landscape or Green Belt land. The NTS has several omissions or contradictions, not least over the increase in traffic. Most significantly, the applicant has still not addressed the threat to Hertford’s water supply. Given this I wish to record my strong objection to this second application for a quarry on this site.“