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May 2021

Last Updated: 19/05/2021

Community

Knaresborough residents call for HGV ban in narrow streets

by Thomas Barrett

| 20 May, 2021

Hambleton Grove Industrial Estate is used by several businesses — but to enter the site HGVs have to navigate the narrow residential street Hambleton Grove. Residents say the vehicles are making their lives a misery, damaging cars and pose a safety risk to children.

Residents in Knaresborough have launched a campaign to stop HGVs from using a nearby industrial estate.

They say the vehicles are making their lives a misery and causing damage to nearby cars.

Hambleton Grove Industrial Estate is used by several businesses — but to enter the site the 50ft vehicles have to navigate the narrow residential street, Hambleton Grove.

Joe Farrar, who lives on Hambleton Grove, said the situation had worsened and he feared for the safety of passing children from nearby St John's C of E Primary School.

He said:

"These heavy trucks have over the years caused an increasing amount of damage to vehicles. In one recent incident just on school time, two cars lost their wing mirrors within seconds of each other while parked within the permitted parking spaces on Hambleton Grove.

"What if the slight blow these vehicles received had been a child? We all fear it could happen."

The site has expanded in recent years so when an application to expand the industrial estate to include the Myers builders' merchants in 2016, North Yorkshire County Council highways recommended refusal due to the likely impact on nearby roads.

It said:

"The planning authority considers that the roads leading to the site are by reason of their poor junctions, insufficient widths considered unsuitable for the traffic which would be likely to be generated by this proposal."

Despite the objection, the plans were passed by Harrogate Borough Council in January 2017.

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Another resident, Stephen Mckenzie, said he would like HGVs to be entirely banned from the area.

He said:

"As a neighbourhood we are really disturbed. Two of us went door-to-door at the weekend and there is near universal support in the neighbourhood for our request that HGVs are not allowed on our street."

The residents have launched a petition to try and stop the HGVs which they will present to Harrogate Borough Council, North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate and Knaresborough's Conservative MP Andrew Jones.

A Harrogate Borough Council spokesman said:

"We are aware of concerns local residents have regarding HGV movements in this area of Knaresborough.

"We are currently taking action to ensure all turning facilities associated with business premises are available for use to ensure that unsafe manoeuvres do not take place.

"Any decision to ban certain vehicles from using roads in this location would rest with the county council as the highways authority."

North Yorkshire County Council's highways area manager Melisa Burnham said:

"As the local highway authority, we are aware of the issues relating to HGV movements in this area and have discussed these with local residents.

"Discussions are ongoing with the business and Harrogate Borough Council as planning authority to alleviate the problem and ensure all highway-related conditions attached to the granted planning permission are adhered to appropriately."

The Stray Ferret contacted Myers builders merchants but it did not respond by the time of publication.

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Knaresborough residents call for HGV ban in narrow streets

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