Students and staff at The Hamble School have signed a petition addressed to Hampshire County Council, objecting to a proposed quarry a short walk away.

Plans to develop a quarry at the site that was formerly Hamble Airfield were submitted to the county council in December 2021.

According to building materials company Cemex, an area of 60.4 hectares – the equivalent of 84 pitches – would extract 1.7 million tons of sand and gravel for seven years.

This works out at approximately 250,000 tons a year.

The site of the proposed quarry is a 90 second walk from The Hamble School, and 1,200 pupils and 120 staff members sign a petition against the plans.

A letter addressed to Hampshire County Council from the school’s student leadership team – on behalf of the students and staff at The Hamble School – sited ‘noise, pollution, and the potential to cause respiratory and cardiovascular health problems’ as reasons to prevent the proposal from taking place.

The statement read: “This is a concerning matter for many residents.

“This development would cause distractions to people’s home lives, the neighbouring Hamble School and primary school and would be detrimental to overall quality of life.

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Daily Echo:

“Students were given the option to express their views and gauge the level of concern.”

The letter noted that 70 per cent of students had a ‘good understanding’ of the quarry – of which 88 per cent of them had ‘deep concerns'.

The statement noted the children’s main issues, saying: “Constructing the quarry will create extensive amounts of pollution in the surrounding areas.

“Dust and small particles in the air have a potential to cause respiratory and cardiovascular health problems.

“Another concern that has been raised is the increase of noise that would be caused by the quarry.

“A student at The Hamble School shared their thoughts that the quarry ‘would be a major disruption to our GCSE experience'."

The statement concluded: “We understand the purpose and benefits of creating the quarry, however, there are far more disadvantages and concerns – these heavily outweigh any advantages.

“The negative impact on school and home life cannot be ignored.”

Following the petition, a spokesperson for Hampshire County Council told the Echo: “A date has not yet been set for consideration of the planning application for a new quarry at Hamble Airfield by the County Council’s Regulatory Committee.

“In advance of this, planning officers will review all submitted representations, including any petitions, and take these into account when preparing a report, including a recommendation on whether or not to grant planning permission.

“This recommendation will then be considered by Members of the Regulatory Committee who will determine the planning application.”