Over recent days we have had the opportunity to meet and talk to quite a number of residents in both Hesleden and Castle Eden about plans to remove the former pit heap at Hesleden (see post dated Wednesday 2 April 2014 for background details).
In particular, residents in Gray Avenue, Hesleden, are rightly concerned about the impact that 20 months of HGV's roaring up and down their street will have in terms of noise, nuisance and damage. We note in the planning documents that the applicant estimates that 4 HGV's per hour, for up to 14 hours per day for 6 days a week will travel this route!
Residents throughout Castle Eden are equally concerned about the impact of the same vehicles travelling both ways to and from the A19, some carrying heavy loads of combustible material. As we all know there are significant traffic issues in this area and this proposal has the potential to cause a huge amount of inconvenience and, at worst, have serious consequences in terms of road safety.
It is important to note that while the communities of Hesleden and Castle Eden will be most affected, these traffic movements will have a direct impact on people from Blackhall Colliery, Blackhall Rocks and other parts of our ward too.
Apart from encouraging residents to continue recording their concerns with Durham County Council (the planning authority), our immediate priorities include meeting with the planning case officer to impress on him the growing tide of opposition of our residents to this proposal.
We will also draw up a list of material planning considerations (valid reasons for opposing a planning application) to put to the planning office. At the moment these include noise and nuisance, traffic generation and health and safety issues. There are more, but these will do for now and we will see which way the residents in both Hesleden and Castle Eden react to the public consultation before we plan our next steps.
If you know of anyone who is concerned about this planning application please ask them to register their objections with the county council. From personal experience of the planning process we know that it is absolutely essential that we have as much community support as possible if we are to successfully oppose these plans.
