NORTH PARK QUARRY COMMUNITY LIAISON MEETING NOTES OF MEETING HELD ON WEDNESDAY 24 th OCTOBER 2012 AT GODSTONE CLUB

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1 NORTH PARK QUARRY COMMUNITY LIAISON MEETING NOTES OF MEETING HELD ON WEDNESDAY 24 th OCTOBER 2012 AT GODSTONE CLUB Attendees: Cllr. G. Black Tandridge District Council E. Muller Bletchingley Historical Society A. Stones Surrey County Council A. Butler Bletchingley Parish Council A. Balfour QOG / Place Farm D. Balfour QOG / Place Farm H. Windsor QOG R. Jones Resident T. Johns Hawthorns School K. Knox Godstone Parish Council A. White GVA A. Pidgeon Sibelco UK J. Young Sibelco UK M. Hurley Sibelco UK The meeting was chaired by Cllr Gill Black. 1. Apologies Apologies were received from Simon Terry and John Phillips. 2. Minutes of the Previous Meeting held on 4t h July 2012 and Matter Arising M Hurley noted a spelling mistake under 4.1 on page 2, in the fourth paragraph under Noise. This should read. without going through a formal process to amend the condition. 3. Quarry Operational Update 3.1 Quarry Plan for 2013 Sand continues to be extracted from the southern area of the quarry and a small amount of sand has been extracted from the SW of the Place Farm area. However, for the most part, the sand requirement from the western part of the quarry continues to be been met by removal of sand from the stockpiles on the quarry floor, close to the plant site. T Pidgeon noted that a further area to the south of plant site has now been restored and photographs were shown. A large area stretching east from the original route of Bridleway 148 is now restored to final level. During 2013 sand extraction will continue mainly on the south-east faces. When extraction 1

2 is needed in the Place Farm area, this will be planned to ensure the lowest impact, such as during wet weather whenever possible. M Hurley noted that during the coming planting season, a hedgerow will be planted along the 100 metre stand-off to Place Farm. R Jones asked about the situation with the slope to the north of the plant site. T Pidgeon said this slope is stable and is vegetating. The Company intends to keep monitoring the slope and will later integrate it into the wider northern slope restoration. A Balfour asked if the company would need to extend the time for operations at North Park Quarry. M Hurley said that it was possible, depending of course on sales over the next two years, that sand may remain unquarried particularly in the south-east of the site at the end of The company will monitor the situation and will advise the liaison in good time if an application for an extension of time is deemed necessary. 4. Planning Update 4.1 North Park Quarry Extension Current Developments Archaeology As expected, archaeological finds have been made in the current excavations to the north of Place Farm. The remains of walls have been found and possible building foundations. This structure was not expected and its purpose and function is not clear. The lack of pottery, so far, means it is difficult to date the construction. Two invitation open days have been held. The wall remains are affected by the permitted design and will need to be 100% excavated and recorded. The possible building lies in a location where the infrastructure can likely pass over the top and it is planned to preserve this feature in-situ. Press articles on the finds have appeared in the Surrey Mirror and Godstone County Border News and the link with Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves. Whitehill Lane Crossing Works on Whitehill Lane crossing have commenced with vegetation removal to create the required visibility splays. Work on the crossing points each side of the lane will commence in a week or so. There will be no use of the crossing until next year. Footpath diversion orders Surrey County Council (SCC) is this week to make the orders for the required footpath diversions at Pendell. There will be a 28 day consultation period, which follows an informal consultation which was undertaken recently. A Balfour asked about the timing of footpath closures and how are the replacement footpaths which need to cross the future quarry area are dealt with. M Hurley explained that if the orders are granted, the timing of the closures is not fixed, this will be for determination by SCC when the Council is satisfied that the alternative routes (during quarrying) have been put in place by the 2

3 company and are adequate in all respects such as width, fencing, kissing gates installed in agreed locations etc. This date will be advised to the liaison group in advance. The new routes which cross the permitted quarry area will by then be legal routes but cannot be installed until after site restoration, so on the same day that the exiting footpaths are closed and the peripheral routes are opened, the routes crossing the quarry will be temporarily stopped up with a legal requirement to make these available by the end date of the Pendell permission (31 December 2022). A Butler asked about the diversion of the fuel pipeline which crosses the permitted site. M Hurley said that Sibelco is in negotiation with the pipeline operator and various consultants appointed by the operator. Sibelco has not yet been advised of the decision as to the timing or route of the diversion. 4.2 Quarry extension planned works for 2013 M Hurley advised that when the Whitehill Lane crossing points are completed and the archaeology area is complete and covered over, there will be no further works related to the Pendell extension until about April next year. The detailed programme is not yet finalised but will be advised in due course. R Jones asked whether the company can ensure that the contractors use white noise alarms on mobile plant. M Hurley will discuss this with the engineering team. 4.3 Other planning matters M Hurley discussed some minor variations which the company is seeking at North Park Quarry: Storage cabins the site has two stores cabin currently located in a small compound near North Park Cottages. This requires frequent trips to collect maintenance materials etc. The company wishes to locate these cabins to a site beside the process plant (east side) onto an existing concrete base where the generator used to be located. An application for a non-material amendment has been made to SCC. Sand/soil powerscreen members will be aware that the two mobile powerscreens permitted to be used on site cannot be moved. This is causing severe problems for the sand/soil screening due to heavy rutting at the static locations leading to Health and Safety concerns. The company seeks to use the mobile screen over a relatively small area between the southern product tower and the quarry office (an area of around 100 x 150 metres). The screen would be moved not more often than around once every two weeks. The screener does have a warning siren which sounds when the screen is being walked to a new location. These distances will be kept to a minimum. The company is awaiting a response from SCC on what type of application would be required. Members will be advised. [Post meeting note: SCC has advised a non-material amendment application will be required and this will be submitted shortly]. Sand powerscreen the second mobile screen is used to screen out clay, cemented sand and oversize material etc. from the sand - and was at one time located on the main plant feed. By being restricted in permitted location, 3

4 this means sand has to be transported an increasing distance to the screen and then the oversize (amounting to some 5% of the raw feed) must be hauled back to the quarry to be used in the restoration profiling. This is resulting in increasing internal haulage movements, creating more possibility for dust generation and increased fuel consumption. The company is seeking consent to use this mobile screener over a larger but well defined area to the south-east of the plant site. The screener would only need to be moved once every few months. The company proposes to undertake noise and dust assessments and then make the required type of application to SCC with a reasoned justification. Members will be advised of progress. 5. Dust Monitoring and Environmental Update Dust and weather monitoring continues in accordance with the approved Dust Monitoring Scheme and Dust Action Plan. Also, additional observations and controls are in place above and beyond the requirements of the approved scheme, including: Maintenance and monitoring of a directional sticky gauge at Place Farm Measurement of AAC (Actual Area Coverage) Maintenance of a daily weather and site condition observation sheet including weather forecasts. A meeting of the Dust Sub-Committee was held on 24 th September M Hurley noted good monitoring results generally over the past few months since the last meeting. The horizontal Frisbee at Hawthorns has shown some raised results in July and August (but less than 200mg/m2/day). The reason for this is not known. It does not tie in with wind directions from the east/north-east but could reflect nearby harvesting due to the burnt results being one third to one half of the un-burnt results. The horizontal Frisbee on the DustScan gauge on the bund near Place Farm shows high results in June and July. We continue to find damage to this gauge with material getting underneath the gauze. Bird damage is suspected and additional wires have been fitted to try and protect the gauze. The DustScan vertical plots for the June, July and August were shown. Although these results do not always reflect complaints or concerns, local residents have confidence that this gauge better reflects experiences than other monitoring results. The company will continue to use this type of gauge as agreed. D Balfour asked about the PM10 correlation exercise. M Hurley said that the company was awaiting further information from Dr Pullen on the best methods to undertake a robust comparison. 4

5 6. Environmental Update 6.1 Complaints / Concerns Register Review One complaint/concern has been logged since the end of May 2012: 30 th May Dust at Place Farm This was investigated but the wind direction was not from the quarry area. Following the dust issues on 25/26 May, site management believes there has been a much improved proactive approach by site with regular early reporting of potential problems and regular communication with nearby local residents both by and visits to residents. The May dust event has also led to a change to the programming on the quarry sprays. Where previously each spray had been run for a long duration (typically over 40 seconds) before running the next spray in sequence, experimentation has shown that a better pattern is to run each spray for 20 seconds, so that each spray is activated more frequently, preventing parts of the face drying between spraying. There has also been a change to the quarrying pattern to be more sensitive to the control of dust. For example we now plan only intermittent extraction of a small area in the SW of the Place Farm area to fit in, when possible, with predicted rain and wind direction and also to extract and haul only as much as needed rather than create additional stockpiles. 7. Community Matters M Hurley responded to Cllr G Black that he would ask at Head Office about possible assistance with funds for the staircase to the Bell Tower at Bletchingley Church. Mr A White noted some problems with the new play area on Godstone Green and some more sand might be required. GVA will keep the company informed. T Pidgeon noted that the company has erected a new fence at Godstone School and is working with a charity in Merstham who require some root zone materials for tree planting. J Young advised that the company is planning an open day in Spring 2013, possibly in April before the main Pendell development works commence. J Young will check other local events to ensure there is no date clash and it was suggested that the company links in with the Historical Society. T Johns asked if as much warning as possible of the date can be given so Hawthorns School can be involved in some way. 8. Any Other Business There was no further business. 9. Date of Next Meeting Wednesday 6 th March 2013, 6:30 pm at the Godstone Club. 5