Residents in fear of more HGVs in quiet, rural lane

MORE traffic would be created in and around Woodcote if a road surfacing firm is refused permission for a licence to store more vehicles on its land, a public inquiry heard.

Richard Hazell, who founded Hazell & Jefferies in 1971, is seeking permission for an additional 20 heavy goods vehicles and four trailers at his depot off Pot Kiln Lane.

He currently has a licence for 13 lorries and four trailers at the site.

Mr Hazell has also asked the Traffic Commissioner for permission for another 15 vehicles on a yard known as “The Slab”, off Penny Royal, Goring Heath, which isn’t authorised for storage.

He is licensed for 45 vehicles and four trailers across four locations, including at Mount Pleasant Farm in Whitchurch Hill and another depot at Upper Gatehampton Farm in Goring. These numbers would increase to 80 lorries and eight trailers if the request to vary his licence is granted.

Dozens of residents of Woodcote and Goring Heath have written to their parish, district and county councillors, claiming this would put unbearable pressure on the roads.

But Mr Hazell says there would be no increase in reality because he has been operating about 80 vehicles for some time and this has only increased a little over more than a decade. Deputy traffic commissioner Fiona Harrington heard arguments from the firm and councils at the inquiry held at the Crowne Plaza in Reading on Tuesday last week.

Laura Hadzik, on behalf of Hazell & Jefferies, said: “Any adverse decision by the traffic commission today will not prevent my clients’ vehicles from going into that site for loading.

“So a rejection or a refusal of the application would result in greater traffic movements in and out of the entrance because they would have to visit that site to load and unload, then exit that site as opposed to being based there at night.”

Thomas Cockhill, of Oxfordshire County Council, said the visibility along the road to The Slab was unsuitable.

He said: “For 60mph roads you need 215m visibility in either direction. The visibility on the left-hand side is only 110m.”

Ms Hadzik responded: “The only concern that came with the traffic inspector’s report is with the gate, which my clients have indicated they are happy to address. There’s no issue about visibility — he is, in fact, positive about visibility.

“Are you aware that The Slab has been used for 30 years without issue? There haven’t been any collisions or incidents.”

Mr Cockhill admitted that he didn’t know the site had been in use for that time.

Tom Wyatt, principal planning officer at South Oxfordshire District Council, said increasing the number of vehicles would require planning permission.

He said: “The site is a longstanding commercial industrial site originally registered as class B, which is general industrial use.

“Our enforcers have investigated alleged breaches of planning control within the site due to alleged changes of use.

“The investigation was closed on the pretence that the site was used for maintenance of vehicles. The council’s stance now is that such a large increase in the number of vehicles proposed would be a strong indication that the site is used as a civil engineering depot for vehicles to be based and come and go from there. Planning permission doesn’t exist for that use.

“Permission was granted for that use in 2005 but the applicant chose not to take it and I understand the reason was that the permission was subject to a condition that movement could only be between 7am and 7pm, not on Sundays or bank holidays.

“Fifteen of 20 vehicles being considered have already been in use by the operator for some time.

“It seems to me the site is already being used as a civil engineering depot for which planning permission doesn’t exist. If we had a planning application again for such a use it’s very likely that certain conditions would be implemented.

“The site’s proximity to properties aligning the approach to the site and actually traffic movements outside those hours would be detrimental to the community and those residents.

“It is generally a quiet locality surrounded by rural areas. It is not somewhere necessarily where planning policies would encourage industrial use. I think the only reason why we would look potentially favourably at contracted civil engineering use would be to gain controlled hours.”

Chris Stanley, general manager of Hazell & Jefferies, said there was a “grey area” over the classification of the firm’s vehicles, which created ambiguity over whether it was in breach of the licence.

The inspector will give her decision later.