Hornchurch and Upminster’s MP, Julia Lopez, met with Brett Aggregate on 4 November, to discuss their proposals for sand and gravel extraction a the Rainham Lodge Farm.
Mrs Lopez appreciates that this plan has caused considerable concern among residents. Whilst Mrs Lopez does not hold any formal influence over the consideration of planning applications, she wished to discuss their proposals in greater detail and relay to them directly the feedback and specific worries of constituents. Mrs Lopez was also able to visit a nearby home afterwards to get residential views of the site.
The primary concern expressed by residents has been that the site's operation will lead to a dispersal of dust and other particulate matter, causing a reduction in air quality for residents, businesses and nearby wildlife in the Country Park and Nature Reserve. Brett Aggregates maintain their position that the amount of airborne dust caused by their operations will be limited due to it being damp when extracted and the use of other controls when it is moved throughout the site (covers on lorries and wheel washing etc). They therefore assert that this will not lead to a reduction in local air quality.
Mrs Lopez sought assurances on how that assertion could be independently verified and measured, including understanding the impact on air quality at their existing local quarry sites in Rainham. Brett advised that, subject to planning conditions, it is possible for air quality monitoring equipment to be used on the site. Mrs Lopez shall be following up further with Brett to request that this be subject to further consideration prior to any formal application being made and will liaise with the Council’s planning department as appropriate on this.
Another key concern of residents is the impact of the site’s operation on the local road network with a significant increase in the amount of HGV movements along Berwick Pond Road, Aveley Road and Park Farm Road that are not currently used in connection to their existing sites. Brett maintained their position that the site will not lead to a net increase in the number of lorries using local roads, however Mrs Lopez highlighted that while this may be true for the borough as a whole, it is a displacement of HGV traffic onto the above roads when their other site closes. In their consultation materials, Brett acknowledges that if they reach their proposed peak vehicle movements this will represent an increase of 2.5% of traffic (all of which would be HGV) on local roads.
Mrs Lopez has concerns about the suitability of those roads to handle such traffic. Berwick Pond Road in particular has many tight corners which could make HGVs passing in opposing directions dangerous, especially if there are other vulnerable road users such as cyclists or horse riders nearby, and Mrs Lopez aware of local concern regarding the safety of the junction of Park Farm Road into Berwick Pond Road. Brett counters that they seek to address this via their circular route plans, ensuring that their vehicles never pass one another; however they cannot control the movements of other HGVs. Mrs Lopez understands that Brett is considering potential highways improvements to address this, however she remains concerned that, fundamentally, these roads are not suitable for this volume of HGV traffic and has relayed this to Brett. Residents are also concerned about the potential for sand and dust to fall onto the highway from loaded vehicles, which could exacerbate the above issues.
In response to concerns upon the impacts to nearby nature reserves and open spaces, Brett highlighted that the site does not fall directly within the nature reserve or Site of Special Scientific Interest and set out further their plans to restore the site at the end of its operation with increased public access. While the restoration plans are welcome, there remains potential for disruption during the site’s operation which could discourage people from accessing local green spaces that have benefited from significant investment in recent years via the Ingrebourne Valley Nature Discovery Centre and the Ingrebourne Link cycling route.
Several houses and specific local businesses stand to be particularly affected by the site because of their location, and Mrs Lopez has asked Brett to intensify their engagement with affected individuals so that their views and concerns can be more directly addressed.
Finally, Brett set out greater detail on the history of their quarrying operations in Havering and Havering’s strategic role for London as one of four boroughs to provide aggregate of this nature. It was implied that there is some kind of ongoing obligation or regional agreement to continuing that role. Mrs Lopez is aware of Havering’s industrial history in providing gravel since Thames Chase’s Land of the Fanns project is specifically designed to restore London’s lost landscapes from historical quarrying operations. However, Mrs Lopez was not aware of any ongoing commitment at borough level to the capital. Mrs Lopez was also not aware until her conversation with Brett that they have owned Rainham Lodge Farm since c2005 and that they had had pre-application conversations with Havering Council in 2019. Mrs Lopez shall be writing to the local authority to seek further clarity on the obligations of the borough to provide aggregate material and what feedback they had previously shared with Brett when they were in pre-app conversations a few years ago.
Brett suggested to Mrs Lopez that while they had anticipated lodging a planning application in December, they may now be further refining their proposals to take better account of the considerable resident feedback they are receiving.
As noted earlier within this update, as an MP, Mrs Lopez does not have any formal jurisdiction over the consideration or determination of local planning applications as they are determined by Havering Council. It is therefore resident’s three ward councillors who are elected to be their voice on such issues, and the Upminster ward team of the Hornchurch & Upminster Conservative Association are collating residents’ views to share with those councillors and their councillor colleagues on the Planning Committee in advance of any application being made.
Nonetheless, Mrs Lopez has outlined verbally to Brett Aggregates the strength of local opposition to the proposals and residents’ valid concerns, which she shares, as to how the site may affect them. Mrs Lopez shall be corresponding further with Brett to set out those concerns in greater detail so that she can get their written response rather than relying on her recall of their conversation. Mrs Lopez will of course update all constituents who have contacted her on the outcome of that correspondence.
Mrs Lopez shall also continue to engage with all local stakeholders on this matter, including Havering Council. Should a planning application be submitted to Council, Mrs Lopez would support residents and campaign ward teams in making sure concerns are collated and presented to the planning committee for formal consideration. In doing so, Mrs Lopez has already relayed to the Council Cabinet Member for the Environment constituent comments relating to these proposals.
