HAMPSHIRE County Council caused outrage for Whitehill-Bordon residents this week, after publishing details of potential excavation sites without properly researching the area. It was revealed that the map – which flagged up potential sites of mineral excavation and landfill sites- included suggested areas that were unsuitable. These sites include the Woolmer Triangle, which is home to many species of wildlife; Mornington House, which is already a landfill site; Standford Grange, which lies on the outside of the Whitehill parish and the Bordon MoD enclosure, which is mature woodland. When challenged about the new sites, a spokesman for the council said: "In hindsight, we appreciate that we should have looked more closely at the map before publishing it." As a mineral planning authority, Hampshire County Council (HCC) is obliged to provided 2.6 million tonnes of sand and gravel per year and as such, they were keen to earmark areas of potential sand. The spokesman for the council told The Herald that this kind of excavation takes place prior to big developments, when planning permission has been granted and the area will be disturbed anyway. As the Army prepares to leave Bordon and the town approaches a period of great development, the council needs to establish where the sand could be located. The spokesman said: "We wanted to establish the markers for where we believe the soft sand to be ahead of any big developments. "If EHDC were to put planning permission on the land highlighted, we would then begin to investigate that specific area further. "The excavation will not occur until development begins. If the bulldozers are going in to an area anyway, then we have jurisdiction under planning law to extract sand from that site. "This would not be the case if it was just one house or conservatory being built, but rather a housing development or road; then we would consider the excavation". When homes or other developments take place on areas of sand that could have otherwise been excavated and used for building, it is known as sterile and the council are currently trying to prevent this process. While it is thought that the areas highlighted in the most recent map do contain sand, little more detail is known. "We don't entirely know what's under there. To get detailed information we would have to take core sampler and dig pits in order to establish where the sand is, the quality and depth," said the spokesman. East Hampshire has been highlighted as an area of importance for the supplies of soft sand – which is used for cement and plaster, as the majority of Hampshire only contains sharp sand. The spokesman added: "Soft sand is not found all over Hampshire, only in East Hampshire and in some parts of the New Forest. Therefore, where we do find it to exist, we need to make sure we look after it." "It was never our intention to cause distress to anyone, but we did want to establish some markers of where the sand is. How to get that message across remains unclear, so we accept that we should have had a closer look." The county council has also expressed an interest in extending the quarries at Firth End and Kingsley following proposals from the quarry managers. The development framework is now going through the process of public consolation. If anyone would like to have a say, they can write to the Environment Department, The Castle, Winchester, Hampshire, SO23 8UD. Hard copies of all relevant documents are available to view at the HCCs environment department offices at The Castle, Winchester. Alternatively, they an be found online at http://www.hants.gov.uk">www.hants.gov.uk under the planning and development section.
