Summerleaze Ltd held a liaison meeting with representatives of Taplow and its surrounds on Tuesday 5th April at the Village Hall. The meeting was preceded by a visit to the site. Mike Lowe, Director for Summerleaze outlined the current proposal and timings of the activities on site.
Summerleaze are a local family company with a history of gravel extraction in the Maidenhead area dating back to the early 1930s. They are very active in the local communities in which they operate and specifically in the Taplow area have funded tree planting on Station Road and are a major contributor to the TVAP.
The site received planning permission for gravel extraction initially in 1990; this was subsequently extended due to the activities involving the Jubilee River and the Eton Rowing Lake. However, both projects will soon be complete and Summerleaze now require the material from Taplow to continue to be able to supply their local customers.
The intention for the Taplow site is to extract the raw material at a rate of 80,000 tonnes per year, and transport this material to their processing plant in Bray for onward sale to local customers. The expected start date is April 2006 and the consented reserve would be exhausted by April 2009. At the end of the extraction period the site will be restored to a lower level and laid to grass and woodland. The haul road, which will link the site to Berry Hill, will also be removed at that time.
The operation will involve the loading of aggregate onto lorries by a hydraulic excavator. The intention is to operate the site on an intermittent basis equivalent to 26 weeks per year; at this rate they will require 30 vehicle loads of material to leave the site per day of operation. All vehicles will leave the site via a new road onto Berry Hill and down to the A4. There will be no other plant onsite apart from a water tanker, which would be used to maintain the haul road free from dust.
Opening hours will be from 7.30am until 4.30pm Monday to Friday and it is unlikely that Saturdays will have any activity at all. No activity will take place on Sundays or Bank Holidays.
Prior to the start of extraction some other works will be undertaken these will involve the installation of the haul road and its access to Berry Hill (July/August), an archaeological survey of the site (May/June) and the slight diversion of footpath 10 such that it exits onto Berry Hill to the north of the proposed vehicle access.
Summerleaze are committed to informing the local community of its activities on the site and have set up a liaison group where information can be easily transmitted.
