Just under 200 protesters lead by campaigner Anne Anderson and Michael Fabricant MP marched in farmland which faces destruction near Kings Bromley in Staffordshire on Sunday 27th September. Proposals would turn most of June Baskerville’s farm into quarry.

Michael Fabricant says: "This must not be allowed to happen. A beautiful rural area with rich farmland and diverse wildlife will be destroyed forever. Local people will be forced to endure an eyesore while neighbouring towns and villages will suffer from noise and vibration from heavy trucks carrying gravel passing through. This is not nimbyism. Staffordshire has already done its fair share of gravel extraction with two-thirds of all the gravel in the midlands being taken from our county. Enough is enough. It is time now for other counties to extract their share, and for greater use to be made of recycling rubble from building sites instead of it being dumped in land-fill sites. I oppose all plans to extract gravel north-west of the A38 road. The damage to the environment will be too great a cost."

A number of gravel extraction sites are currently under consideration. Sunday’s walk took protesters through the farm of June Baskerville who has 600 head of cattle fed from maize and wheat grown on the farm. "She tries to be self-sufficient and the plans to extract gravel at Kings Bromley will destroy her farm and others" says Michael. "And the potential disaster arising from damage to the high pressure, metre diameter national gas pipelines that all converge on the area is horrific."

The walkers were accompanied by County and District Councillor Janet Eagland and District Councillor Ian Pritchard who both pledged their support to the campaign. Cllr Eagland says "It’s time now for other counties to pull their weight when it comes to gravel extraction. Staffordshire extracts around 66% of midlands gravel while other counties are in single figures. I am taking this campaign up to County."

Picture shows some of the protesters with (in second row behind the children, left to right) Cllr Eagland; farmer, June Baskerville; Michael Fabricant MP; and campaign organiser, Anne Anderson.