A QUARRY about the size of 165 football pitches has been given the go ahead by Essex County Council.

Plans have been approved for the new 227 acre quar ry at Broadfield Farm, Dunmo w Road, Rayne.

The intention is to extract more than 3 million tonnes of minerals for 12 years, with about 110 lorry move- ments each day, spend three years restoring the site and 25 years of “af- tercare”.

Martyn Phillips , from Rayne Par- ish Council, said: “The minerals plan was approved last year and gave a re- quirement to Essex to provide a spe- cific amount of minerals including sand and gravel.

“This is why the new site in Rayne was proposed in the first place by Tar - mac Trading Ltd.

“When the outline plan was pro- posed the parish council were invited tovisitaTarmacTrading mineral ex- traction site in operation to see how it worked.

“We all went to a plant in Nazeing, a small village like ours a couple of miles away from Harlow.

“The visit allayed fears about dirt, dust and noise, as we were honestly expecting it to be all of these things.

“Itwasn’tandwe weresurprised at how clean and tidy the site was.”

Parish councillor Celia Murton will live next door to the proposed quarry, with her house only 50 yards away from the new site.

Mrs Murton said: “I really don’t mind as mineral mining has to be done somew here.

“We knew the outline plan of the project but we knew a detailed appli- cation was pending, which is what was passed by Essex County Council on December 15. As far as I under- stand, the firm aims to mak e as little impact as possible .

“The only noise I think we’ll get is the beeping of lorries reversing and this would be only very occasion- ally.

“The Rayne area has huge mineral potential, though there are concer ns lorries may go through the village , and this is a valid point.

“However, Tarmac Trading is con- siderate and I am sure they will use other routes to ensure there is mini- mal impact on our lives.”

Concer ns have also been raised about what it means for the garden communities project with a proposed 10,000homedevelopment onthedoor- step of the quarry.

The clash caused Braintree Coun- cil to object to the quarry, approved by Essex County Council on Friday.

However Mr Phillips claimed it made sense to get the minerals first because it will be more difficult once the houses are built.

He said: “They will have to take the minerals out of the ground first.

“Once they build on the land as Braintree Council has proposed, then developers cannot take the minerals which is why the quarry will go on the land instead of the garden com- munities project.”

Vice chairman Ann Hooks de- scribed the quarry as the “lesser of two evils” compared to the housing plan and said she was pleased the land would be restored.

She added: “We knew it was going to go ahead several years ago.” A star ting date has not been confir med.