Quarries 'put pressure on land'

Calls have been made to dredge more gravel from the sea

Sea-dredging of gravel and sand should be increased to reduce the pressure on land, the South East England Regional Assembly (Seera) has said.

Seera also wants targets for quarrying to be cut by a third in its area.

It said the South East was currently expected to produce 13.25 million tonnes of gravel and sand a year.

The government is proposing to reduce that target to 12.18 million tonnes, but the assembly said that did "not go far enough".

The statement came as Seera responded to government consultation on aggregates.

Councillor Moira Gibson said: "Although we welcome the new approach, there needs to be a greater reduction in the amount of land-won sand and gravel required from the South East."

Seera represents Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East and West Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire and Surrey.