Campaigners hope an independent inspector will rule against a council’s plan to focus the county’s mineral production on our district.
A public examination of the Essex County Council (ECC) replacement local minerals plan, which lists quarry sites up to 2029, finished last Thursday.
The draft plan will see 60 per cent of the county’s gravel extraction take place in and around Braintree and Witham.
A 90-hectare site at Broadfield Farm in Rayne is among those included in the plan.
Don Smith, who led the campaign against the quarry, said: “We had a strong representation from the parish council because there is so much strong feeling.
“We certainly got our points across about the social impact of the village having a gravel pit like this."
The inspector is expected to publish a report in January.
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