RESIDENTS in Ardleigh are celebrating after a proposed quarry was scrapped.

A shortlist of preferred sites for new or extended quarries has been agreed as Essex begins to run out of materials to build homes.

But the site at Ardleigh failed to meet the requirements and will not go forward in the county council consultation.

More than 100 residents packed a meeting last year to complain about the suggestion.

Tim Barrott, chairman of Ardleigh Parish Council, said: “It was one of those applications which brought the whole village together in strong opposition.

“Everyone will be delighted with the news. It is brilliant.”

Mr Barrott said building the quarry, near the B1029 Frating Road, would have meant the destruction of the biggest bronze age burial ground in the country.

He added proposals for development were rejected in the Sixties and he was confident the site would not now be developed.

County councillor Sarah Candy, who is responsible for the village, said: “I am absolutely delighted.

“The process has been very open and council officers have been brilliant in supporting residents at the meetings and understanding their issues.”

Essex County Council has to review its aggregate plan every 15 years and keep a minimum supply of seven years’ worth of materials.

The levels of reserves are currently under strain and have dropped to 8.6 years’ worth – meaning more materials must be found with 132,000 new homes proposed in the county.

As a result, the cabinet has agreed a list of preferred quarry sites, including four new ones and 16 possible extensions.

The approved proposals include plans to extend Bradwell Quarry in the Braintree district, extensions at Fiveways Fruit Farm, Stanway, and Park Farm, Ardleigh, and two plans to extend Fingringhoe quarry.

Also on the list are extensions at Maldon Road, Birch, and Church Farm, Alresford.

The all-new quarry sites include Broadfield Farm, in Rayne, and Frating Hall Farm, in Frating.

Sixteen other sites have not been selected but will be in reserve and eight have been rejected as unsuitable.

The preferred sites will now go out for public consultation.

John Jowers, councillor responsible for communities and planning, said: “This is a preferred approach but there will be a consultation and this can be changed.

“The 132,000 homes agreed have got to come from somewhere.”

Plans for a giant quarry in a historic village would “rip the heart out” of the community, it was claimed.

Farmland around Frating has been put on a shortlist of potential sites by County Hall bosses.

If the new quarry gets the go-ahead, it would be the size of almost 60 football pitches and could operate for 20 years.

Frating Parish Council chairman Michael Brown said: “I think it would rip the heart out of Frating and impact on the environment over a long period of time, and we get nothing back in return.”

The parish council now hopes to mount a campaign opposing the quarry bid.

Sarah Candy, county councillor for Frating, said she was “gutted”, but urged people to not give up as the list is not final and villagers will have the chance to put their points across during the consultation period.

Campaigners in Witham are celebrating after land near the town was rejected as a potential quarry.

The shortlist ruled out Appleford and Coleman’s Farm, Little Braxted, land near Olivers nursery, Witham, and Parkgate Farm, Silver End.