Construction traffic misery for residents
Residents whose lives are being made a misery by the volume of construction traffic involved in the building of new houses in Brodick have been given an apology by North Ayrshire Council.
Householders in the Springbank area say they are ‘fed up’ with the daily stream of construction vehicles using Brathwic Place and Brathwic Terrace to get to the new council housing development in the village.
Large trucks use the route – the only way in and out of the site – every weekday but it is even busier on the two official delivery days – Tuesday and Thursday – when there are even larger vehicles moving equipment.
As result of the constant heavy traffic, the road surfaces, which were never designed to take the current volume of traffic, are regularly having to be repaired by the local authority on an ad hoc basis.
But residents say that no sooner has a section been repaired than it is being damaged again.
The council says that any major work required will be dealt with on completion of the project, but it is not clear who will pay for this.
Residents say there would have been more objection to the proposals if they had known they were going to have to endure months of turmoil in order for the first council houses to be built on Arran in 30 years to be constructed.
The main contactor Ashleigh (Scotland) Ltd had just begun work on the site when lockdown started in March.
Many are still of the view the only way the development
should have been allowed to go ahead was by building a construction road up to the site via Springbank Way.
One resident said: ‘With the volume of material that goes up and down to the site every day, it is like they are building a new town, not a few council houses.
‘You can set your watch for just after 8am when the first truck will appear and most days they go up and down all day – trucks, cement mixers, tractors with trailers, dumper trucks, often working in pairs.
‘It has been going on for months and if, like me, you are retired, it gets pretty tiresome,’ he added.
Others say the agreement was that deliveries to the site would be made during school hours when the many children in the area would not be around.
But another resident said: ‘They start early in the morning and continue until early evening – well outside the times printed on the parking restriction boards.’
Another lady resident said the volume of traffic was ‘ridiculous’.
And a young dad said: ‘I don’t know how anyone on shift work gets any sleep during the day. There are so many children living up here, it is worrying.’
However, there are signs that progress is being made, with the houses themselves beginning to take shape.
A North Ayrshire Council spokesman said: ‘The contractor is adhering to the agreed traffic management plan with larger construction traffic restricted to Tuesdays and Thursdays, however, there is likely to be site traffic movement each day of the week.
‘The contractor will address the issue with their supply chain, reminding all parties of their obligations.
‘Before works commenced, it was agreed North Ayrshire Council would carry out any necessary repairs during the course of the construction works on an ad hoc basis and that any major repairs will be dealt with on completion of the works.
‘We recognise local residents may be facing inconvenience at this time and apologise for that, however, we hope the end result will be worth the temporary upheaval.’