A massive consultation on where quarries and waste sites could go in Norfolk up to 2021 saw more than 15,000 comments registered on an online questionnaire.

A massive consultation on where quarries and waste sites could go in Norfolk up to 2021 saw more than 15,000 comments registered on an online questionnaire.

Hundreds of people responded to Norfolk County Council's calls for views on 104 potential quarries and 64 possible waste-tip sites across the county, all put forward by developers and landowners.

The council has to draw up a list of potential sites to supply the county's needs for minerals for building use and waste sites for the future.

By Friday - the closing date of the consultation on those sites - about 1,500 people had made comments about schemes on the council's web-site consultation, said a spokesman.

On average, each person left about 10 comments, totalling about 15,000 comments for officers to work through.

There were also about 200 e-mails about proposals and about 500 letters sent to the council.

The debate caused massive concern in many villages over disruption, traffic, noise and loss of beauty spots, especially in Breckland, which had the highest number of proposed sites.

One site, near Hockham, Thetford, was pulled from the running by the Forestry Commission after strong protests from nearby villages, and another proposed site, at Beetley near Dereham, saw its owner, a parish council chairman, resign from his post.

Due to the huge response, the county council had extended the time people had to have their say by four weeks.

The council will now sift through the comments and is due to start a second round of consultation on a shortlist of sites later this summer.