A DETERMINED A-level student fighting plans for a sand and gravel quarry on her doorstep has chosen to write about the saga for her coursework.

Dave Gooderham

A DETERMINED A-level student fighting plans for a sand and gravel quarry on her doorstep has chosen to write about the saga for her coursework.

Shana James, 16, last night spoke of her concern over the plans which she believes could lead to an increase in serious accidents on the notorious A134.

The teenager will be joined by parish councillors and residents in Newton Green tomorrow morning who will drive in convoy to Sudbury behind a tractor to highlight the traffic problems the quarry would cause.

Protestors will then lay flowers at the site of the proposed quarry in neighbouring Chilton to commemorate those people who could lose their lives in road accidents if it is built - just days before Suffolk County Council decide on the application.

Miss James, who lives in Newton Green, said: “The main issue for me and for many in the village is the road safety for the people living in Newton and for those travelling through it.

“The road is already really dangerous and the amount of accidents high. We need proper safety measures like traffic lights or even a roundabout. This is something I feel very strongly about and that is why I have written about it, around the theme of persuasion, for my A-level English coursework.”

Colin Poole, Newton resident and parish councillor, said: “This is already a dangerous stretch of road where there have been terrible accidents already. There is no justification for this quarry being built - it is an accident waiting to happen.”

Almost 100 residents packed into the village's monthly parish council meeting on Thursday where the topic was debated for two hours during the public forum section which normally lasts a matter of minutes.

The meeting heard that the village would have 20,000 HGVs rumble through their streets every year if the plans for a quarry were approved by Suffolk County Council on Thursday.

A day before, Babergh District Council will agree on a recommendation, as a consultee, while the plans have been formally opposed by Chilton Parish Council and police.

South Suffolk MP Tim Yeo said: “The application is totally indefensible on environmental and road safety grounds. It will impose a huge industrial complex in the heart of a rural residential area. The effect on both local road safety and amenity are unacceptable.”

A spokesman for the quarry developer, Ipswich-based Brett Aggregates, said they did not want to comment ahead of Thursday's meeting.