Thame residents protest against concrete crushing plant

About 130 town residents have held a protest about a proposed concrete crushing facility near their estate.

Thame and Lea Park Estate residents joined the demonstration against the planned concrete crushing facility at the top of Moorend Lane, off Tythrop Way, on Sunday.

Newly elected MP for Henley and Thame Freddie Van Mierlo also attended the protest and said the proposal was "the wrong place for this type of development".

The BBC has contacted building company Clark Contracting Ltd for a comment.

Mark Goodall, chair of the Lea Park Residents Association (LPRA), said it had been "really heartening" to see how many people had joined the demonstration.

"It just shows how deeply our community cares about this issue and how essential it is that the county council makes a clear decision against it soon," he said.

The estate is immediately over the road from the planned facility.

The association said it was "fighting hard" to stop it from being built, citing health risks and damage to the environment as reasons.

It added that increased HGVs visiting the site would "increase congestion around the junction and along Tythrop Way (A4129), and increase risk of accidents".

A further worry is that the proposal is immediately adjacent to the Thame Sewage Works, which the association said was overstretched and regularly discharges into the River Thame.

The group said it now had more than 1,100 signatures on a petition and had submitted a formal objection to the county council.

Mr Van Mierlo assured the protesters he would be attending the Oxfordshire County Council planning meeting on 14 October.

"We know the dust is going to impact children here on the skate park and using the football club," he said.

"And also the route is really important to safeguard it from the Thame Haddenham cycle way."