Blog going offline

Hey everyone- thanks so much for your support and emails about this blog! Thanks to you we've achieved VICTORY by stopping the concrete plant at the town level and forcing it to go to the next level (in court).

Unfortunately this also means that the issue is currently out of our hands. As a result, it's been a while since I stopped updating this blog. So, I think it's time to take the blog down and instead simply refer everyone to Pike Industries Redimix Concrete Plant Information Site for the latest updates on the situation.

It could be months, a year or even years before we get a decision on this- and if it does ever get back into the people's hands then I know we'll all be making noise again to protest the situation.

Until then, stand ready!

She could be adversely affected by the proposed Redimix concrete plant

We received an email from Patricia Fairhurst of Dover who shared this photo of her daughter with us and added:

"Please add this little girl to your list of our children who could be adversely affected by the proposed Redimix concrete plant. I bought my home in a this neighborhood in 1998 because it was a safe and quiet place to raise my children. The Redimix proposal endangers both of those aspects of our lives here. We can't let this happen."

Indeed, we can't let this happen! Please send us your stories and pictures too- and it doesn't have to just be children - we need to put all of our pictures online to let Pike Industries and the towns of Madbury and Dover know that it's not just names and addresses that will be affected, but people- men, women and children all.

Welcome Fosters Daily Democrat Readers!

This blog was featured in the top headline news story of the "second front page" section of the Fosters Daily Democrat! If you are new here then welcome! As Fosters mentioned this site is for those community members of Madbury and Dover who are concerned about the proposed concrete plant.

How can you participate? It's easy! Just click here to email us what you'd like to post to the blog and we'll post it for you! Be sure to include how you would like your name to appear in the blog post. In addition, you can sign up with Blogger to have your own Blog account and we'll add you as an author so you can post your blogs directly to the site! It's easy!

We're also collecting pictures of the people of the community who are concerned with the proposed plant- to put faces to the names and posts that appear on this site. So please, click here to email us your pictures!

Thanks for stopping by! Please check back often as this blog is updated regularly!

A letter from an 11 year old resident

My name is Naomi Keefe and I am 11 years old. I am writing this letter to protest against the installation of a new concrete batch plant, operated by Redi-Mix, on Barbadoes Pond on the Dover/Madbury town line.

As a current resident of Grandview Drive across from Barbadoes Pond, the number of reasons is very immense on why the concrete plant should not be constructed. Firstly, it is a great environmental hazard. Occupants of Grandview Drive would no longer be able to swim, fish, or boat in the pond. Our neighborhood has a beautiful selection of wildlife and vegetation and the concrete plant would eliminate much of this.

Secondly, the concrete plant can cause lung problems from dust and other debris. The ingredients in concrete are sand, gravel, cement and water. Sand and gravel dust contains a large amount of quartz which has been shown to cause silicosis. Silicosis is a progressive disorder that can be disabling and sometimes fatal. This is just one of the many health issues.

Lastly, the installation of a concrete plant will create a tremendous increase in traffic. The estimate Redi-Mix has presented is about 160 truck passes per day. That means a concrete truck will pass by not only the houses on route 9, but the neighborhoods adjoining it, about once every 3 minutes. The plant would operate year-round, excluding Sundays, and has proposed a 50-year life span. The current sand and gravel reserves are plentiful enough for ten years only and when that time is up, there will be another portion of trucks coming to and fro daily.

After reading this letter, for just a minute put yourself in my shoes, what would you do?

Sincerely,
Naomi Keefe

My daily drive

Every morning I commute past Pike Industries on my way to work, and every morning I am greeted by this beautiful sign on Cindy Bushong's lawn- it reads:

NO REDI-MIX CONCRETE PLANT PIKE INDUSTRIES GO AWAY!

It's like a morning cup of coffee, I've come to appreciate it and look forward to it each day. I applaud Cindy for being brave and making such a huge statement. You unite us all and inspire us to create things like this weblog.

But then I drive past Cindy's sign and I encounter Pike's entrance. Their sign is like a cold, lifeless stare. The twin metal gates to their asphalt plant are like the arms of a machine. Recently the machine came back to life, after over a year of non-operation. It was like Pike flipped the switch just to spite us all- attempting to protect themselves from future non-operational arguments, yet giving more weight to the original argument of non-operation.

Some days the machine tries to spit at me, and I find myself behind, or a few cars behind, one of their asphalt dump trucks. They spew toxic fumes and steal my fresh air- forcing me to roll up my windows, or put the air on recycle. Sometimes, but not every time, they feature a helpful warning label - "CONSTRUCTION VEHICLE: DO NOT FOLLOW." Do not follow Pike Industries? I think that label should appear on EVERY one of your trucks, heck, make it your corporate motto- because following you is like following poison. Your concrete plant will likely force us all to not only roll up the windows in our cars, but also force us to close the windows of our homes. You could be stealing our town's fresh air- and for some, you could be stealing their very breath.

So Cindy I join you here, and shout from my rooftop and for all the world and internet to hear: NO REDI-MIX CONCRETE PLANT PIKE INDUSTRIES GO AWAY!

30 years on Barbados Pond

As residents/tax payers in the town of Madbury, we are very concerned about the proposed concrete plant that would create numerous issues/hazards for ourselves and our neighbors. We have lived here for 30 years, seen many changes to the neighborhood, and will most likely be forced to sell our home due to the increased tax rate in Madbury. Like all home owners, when the time comes, we would expect to sell our property at fair market value.

We hope and pray that this concrete plant will not be allowed to begin construction.

Our future is at risk, financially, physically, and emotionally.

I trust that the "powers on the board" will seek to protect the rights of home owners who have made lifelong financial contributions to the town of Madbury.

Jean and John Barry
Littleworth Road
Madbury

Why I'm here. Also, send in your stories and pictures!

The internet is a powerful thing. It has brought to task some of the most powerful people and companies, it has stopped injustice dead in its tracks and it has forced policy change in monolithic corporations. I KNOW that with the power of the internet we can STOP Pike Industries from building this concrete plant. But, I need your help to do it!

Here's how- I intend this blog to become a collection of YOUR stories and photos- putting faces to the people of Madbury and Dover who will be affected by Pike Industries. I hope my post about my baby daughter inspired you to share your story too. So please, send me your thoughts and feelings, stories or anecdotes, history of Madbury or Dover and the concrete plant, or anything at all, and I'll post it to this blog, anonymously or with your name, whichever you prefer. Just email me at SayNOtoPIKE@gmail.com

In addition I hope to collect anyone's picture who wishes to share and post it to the say NO to Pike Industries Flickr Photo group and to this blog. I'm hoping to create TWO sets of photos- one of the children who will be affected and then one of the area residents who will be affected. So, please send in pictures of yourself AND your family!

I also plan to start interviewing different residents of Madbury and Dover and posting videos to YouTube about this as well. If you would like to be interviewed, please email me.

Pike Industries already knows how we feel about them- their attorneys and representatives face huge crowds of people who oppose their plan when they come to town hall hearings, and there is a beautiful anti-plant sign on the lawn of a house adjacent to their plant entrance. Also, there is already an excellent no2pike.com website out there that's chock full of up-to-the-minute information about this, but I'm hoping to add to the online efforts with this blog and YOUR help!

TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE CHANGE HAPPEN! To join the effort, please take just a few minutes to email your story and/or pictures to me at SayNOtoPIKE@gmail.com