A PLANNING application to construct a large quarry and a mile-long conveyor belt for sand across the countryside has created outrage from residents who live near Calne.

Villagers, who have formed an action group called Calne and District SOS, have drummed up opposition to the application by Hills Quarry Products Ltd to extract sand from Freeth Farm, just outside Compton Bassett, by door knocking, leafleting and even holding a 30-man protest on the proposal site where they formed the letters SOS.

Jennie Brooks, of the Calne and District SOS, said: “We want to highlight to everyone around the area that this application is both destructive and unnecessary. We are not only fighting for Freeth Farm and the area around the farm which will be blighted by this monstrous new quarry, but we are also making our voice heard on behalf of the other residents around this beautiful part of Wiltshire.

“The company responsible for the application appears to have little concern for the effect they are going to have on the beautiful landscape as well as the pollution they will cause and we are determined to fight this. We feel that they will continue to expand across Wiltshire if they are not stopped.”

Since starting their campaign three weeks ago, nearly 400 letters of objections have been registered with Wiltshire Council, with many more expected and 98 per cent of people who attended an emergency village meeting held by Compton Bassett’s Parish Council voted to object to the application.

“This is not just our fight,” Mrs Brooks added: “We are determined to make our voice heard on behalf of communities who increasingly feel bullied and threatened by corporate interests.”

The group have stirred a strong response from the surrounding villages and have set up a specific taskforce who are tackling what they believe to be misinformation in the planning application, spearheaded by parents who are concerned for their children’s health and future.

A Hills spokesman from Hills said: “Planning permission for the extraction of sand on part of Freeth Farm was granted in 1956 and we are seeking to agree modern planning conditions. Detailed reports including land and visual considerations, archaeology, geology, noise and air quality, which are all part of the environmental impact assessment, form the basis of the revised planning conditions we are looking to agree with the planning authority.

“A planning application to remove the sand via a covered conveyor system, rather than using dump trucks as proposed in the original planning permission, has also been submitted.

“The site will be progressively restored using only on site material arising from the quarry and will be returned to agriculture together with 3,000 square metres of new woodland.”