LANDFILL SITE EYEING LORRIES PARKING BAN
But Stink campaigner fears problem would move elsewhere
LORRIES could be banned from parking outside a controversial landfill site.
Walleys Quarry Ltd is proposing Cemetery Road in Silverdale be turned into a red route to prevent illegal and anti-social parking by HGV drivers delivering waste.
Neighbours have been complaining about queueing lorries, which they say regularly effectively reduces Cemetery Road to a single lane.
It has previously been reported that Walleys Quarry was due to submit plans which, if approved, would allow it to open its gates earlier in the day. This would not change the landfill’s operating hours, but would allow HGVS arriving early in the morning to enter the site.
Walleys Quarry Ltd chief executive Nigel Bowen says although the application is still under ‘active consideration’, he believes a red route would be the best solution, as it would make it easier for the police to tackle irresponsible parking.
A red route means drivers are prohibited from stopping at any time, under threat of a fine.
Mr Bowen said: “We work very closely with the hauliers and if there are any issues then we encourage people to send into the Walleys Quarry website photographs where vehicles are illegally parked or unsympathetically parked or irresponsibly parked, because we will ban drivers, and we have banned drivers from the site previously for things like this.
“The vast majority of vehicles that come to Walleys Quarry are operated by others and not Red Industries, so our control outside the site is limited, although we will of course liaise with transport companies.
“We think that ultimately if Cemetery Road was made a red route, that would give the police more power to work with us to control traffic movement on that particular road and help with the issues people have rightly raised.
“In terms of the planning application, we’re giving it active consideration, and will shortly decide whether it is appropriate.
“We recognise that opening the gates earlier might give the community concerns around the operation of the landfill.”
Mr Bowen said the red route idea had been put to Staffordshire County
Council, the highways authority. The company is awaiting a response.
More than 40 red routes have been introduced in busy roads in Hanley and other parts of Stoke-on-trent, but the county council has yet to implement them anywhere.
County council leader Alan White says a red route would not stop lorries arriving at the landfill and has urged Walleys Quarry to submit a planning application for earlier gate opening times as soon as possible.
He said: “The company has said before that it would be submitting a planning application to allow the gates to be opened earlier in the day to alleviate the problem of HGVS queueing on the road and, again, I would urge it to do so as quickly as possible.
“Introducing double red lines outside the entrance to the landfill would not stop the arrival of lorries and there is the very real concern that the parking problem would be transferred to other roads and streets nearby.”
Stop the Stink campaigner Mick Salt also believes a red route in Cemetery Road could just result in lorries being parked elsewhere.
He said: “A red route could work, but there would need to be a way of ensuring it doesn’t simply move the problem elsewhere, with lorry drivers parking on housing estates instead.”
He said lorries could pay to park at Staffordshire Waste Recycling Centre, with Walleys Quarry footing the bill ‘as a gesture of goodwill’.