Anti-quarry campaigners release protest song

Steve Henley and his wife both feature in the song

A campaign group has released a cover song in protest of controversial plans for a quarry on the outskirts of a village in Suffolk.

Stop The Quarry has re-worked Cliff Richard's In the Country, changing the original lyrics to lines about a proposed quarry site in Westerfield.

It came after the TRU7 Group wanted to extract 1.7m tonnes of sand and gravel from the farmland over 16 years, before turning it back to "its original landform with enhanced biodiversity".

However, residents said it would increase congestion and put the public at risk. The project received more than 1,500 objections as part of a consultation, which ended on Friday.

Stop the Quarry campaigners were quite literally making their voices heard

Campaigner Steve Henley told the BBC he was inspired to release the song after driving past the quarry site at the same time the original track played on his car radio.

"I thought it was ironic that I was driving past this site in the country that is going to possibly be destroyed," he said.

"So, I got home, played around with some words and came up with the idea. I then played it to one or two people who thought it was really good."

Mr Henley said the group released the song in a bid to encourage more people to oppose the plans.

"We have had about two and a half thousand views, which is not a bad return, and we hope a lot of those people would have sent in their comments," he added.

"Because, to have this in such a lovely area, which I have lived in for the last 46 years, would just be unbelievable – it's unthinkable."

Campaigners have criticised plans for a quarry in the Suffolk countryside

Plans for the new quarry, off the B1077 north of Westerfield, were first unveiled back in July and were immediately met with concern and opposition from residents.

Stop the Quarry said 400 to 500 lorry movements a week would add to congestion, posing a risk to pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders and children walking to school.

But TRU7 Group said it would generate up to nine full-time jobs and cut carbon emissions by reducing lorry journeys to Essex, from where it currently buys aggregates.

It also said it would backfill the quarry with soil and clay, reinstating it to farmland and woodland after 16 years.

'Enhance the environment'

A spokesperson for TRU7 Group said it acknowledged "local feeling" around the proposals but "strongly" disputed that the work could put local people at risk.

"Our proposals for the quarry include significant biodiversity enhancements from the outset to enhance the local environment, as well as significant off-site improvements of benefit to road users and pedestrians," they added.

"The impact on the local landscape is far from permanent - once the site has been quarried and infilled, it will be returned to its original landform with enhanced biodiversity."