Hello everyone,

As you know I’ll be in Preesall tomorrow meeting residents and businesses before hosting a ‘Chat with Cat’ drop-in for anyone who’d like to come and talk to me about their concerns.

I’ll be at the Youth and Community Centre, Lancaster Road (near Preesall Park)  1.30-3pm.

I’ve also tabled a petition which I’ll bring with me tomorrow. You are invited to sign it before I present the petition to the Speaker of the House of Commons next week.

The wording is as follows:

To the House of Commons.

The petition of residents of the United Kingdom,

Declares that residents of Preesall and Knott End on Sea are concerned about a proposal to build a new quarry in Preesall to remove 460,000 tonnes of sand and gravel; notes if the company wants to remove 460,000 tonnes of material, it is equivalent to 43,000 return trips on Preesall’s narrow rural roads; declares that, given the dangerously poor state of the public access routes to the quarry land at Bourbles Farm, rural roads can not withstand the daily impact of so many 32 tonne HGV journeys; further that many hundreds of families would be adversely affected by the environmental impact of mining a quarry so close to residential homes; further that creating quarries requires the removal of virtually all natural vegetation, top soil and subsoil to reach the aggregate underneath leading to a loss of existing animal wildlife and biodiversity as plants and aquatic habitats are destroyed; further that adjacent eco-systems are affected by noise, dust, pollution and contaminated water; and further that quarries also disrupt the existing movement of surface water and groundwater which is a worry in a village with a history of localised flooding.

The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Government to ask Lancashire County Council to engage with local residents and ultimately reject the plans for a quarry in Preesall.

FYI – this is not a ‘public’ petition, and there’s nothing to stop a public petition being organised – this is a specific parliamentary petition which I personally present to the Speaker inside the House of Commons Chamber. As you know – there are some rather ancient rules at Westminster and one of them is that an MP’s petition must contain ‘wet’ signatures (!) which is why it’s not online. I hope that makes sense!

I look forward to meeting those who can make it tomorrow.