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Villagers' fears after decision on Cemex quarry site
May, 11 2012
(UK) -- Villagers are worried about the safety of children after plans were announced to demolish a quarry site.
Concerns have been raised after a cement factory in Barrington, which closed four years ago, has said it will not be brought back into production.
CEMEX UK has announced there is no economic case to re-start production at its cement plant in Barrington and will demolish the facility.
Tony Fletcher, chairman of Barrington Parish Council, told the Weekly News, that once the factory is pulled down, villagers fear the ongoing security at the site maybe stopped.
He said: “We didn’t expect it to re-open in view of the economic state, especially in the building industry at the moment.
“But we are concerned about what will happen to the site, once the factory is removed.
“We want to know what is going to happen to restore the quarry and people are worried about the security of the site for their children.
“There is also a lot of water stored in lakes on the site which is pumped out periodically through ditches to the river in Barrington.
“This needs to be monitored very carefully so not too much water is released.”
More than 80 employees lost their jobs after the site was mothballed in November 2008.
CEMEX UK has said it will continue to meet the company’s obligations including restoration commitments.
Jesus Gonzalez, president of CEMEX UK operations, said: “Regrettably we have come to the irreversible decision that Barrington Cement Plant will not be bought back into production.
“This is due to the very challenging economic environment we are currently experiencing in the UK, with a declining domestic market and spare capacity in the rest of our operations elsewhere in Europe.
“In addition there have been significant increases in manufacturing costs due to electricity market reforms and additional UK only carbon taxes.
“Therefore, there is no sound business case for future investment in Barrington plant.”
The first phase of the demolition will begin shortly.
Source:
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