One reason for Devon County Council's refusal last year of Aggregate Industries' planning application to quarry Straitgate Farm was summarised in the Council's Statement of Case issued for the recent Public Inquiry:
6.43 The Straitgate Proposals will, at peaks, send some 200 articulated tipper trucks out of the Site onto the highway network at Birdcage Lane, in close proximity to a bus stop used by schoolchildren. The Appellant proposes to gravel a verge to prevent passengers walking along the carriageway in times of wet weather, and to impose “embargoes” on truck movements during school pick up and drop off times. However, AIUK does not and would not own the relevant vehicle fleet, and it has provided the MPA with no certainty that the embargoes would be effective, in circumstances where there is considerable uncertainty regarding the impact of cattle crossings on the Appellant’s intended operations.
It goes without saying that the interaction between 44-tonne HGVs and pedestrians, especially children, is a crucial matter to resolve, as this Somerset tale shows:
People living near a quarry have said they fear for their safety due to some aggressive lorry drivers pushing them off Cheddar's narrow village roads.
— Ruth Bradley (@Ruthsays) November 23, 2022
Hanson Aggregates said it was a problem with a minority of drivers not directly employed by the firm.https://t.co/5aEBYdRm0B
"The 2.8m [wide] road is our footway and we share it with these HGVs every day - and they're not giving way.""The HGV didn't stop for me, he kept edging towards me, so I just thought: 'I'm not moving, I've got right of way.'"So I stood still, he stood still. I sat in the road in the end. I thought: 'I'm not moving'."He chose to bully me by edging forwards so that I would have to retrace my steps back to where I could go to a passing place. As a pedestrian against a 44-tonne truck, it really is nerve-wracking."Hanson Aggregates said it had since received a letter of apology from the "experienced" driver who works for one of its customers.
