Councillors: We'll keep fighting over Devonshire Road (From Thurrock Gazette)

Councillors: We'll keep fighting over Devonshire Road (From Thurrock Gazette):

FOUR councillors have vowed to continue fighting against a decision to lift weight restrictions on a Chafford Hundred road.

Garry Hague, Tunde Ojetola, Simon Wootton and Steven Veryard urged members of Thurrock Council’s planning, regeneration and transport committee to hold off lifting the 7.5 tonne weight limit on Devonshire Road until a public consultation was carried out.

But the committee voted against their request, despite the three councillors' claim that removing the weight limit will increase the number of lorries on the road from 120 to up to 752 per day.

Tory Cllr Hague said: “These residents bought their properties with the knowledge a weight restriction was in force to restrict HGV traffic.

“Quite understandably they have very serious concerns over the potential impacts of opening up Devonshire Road to HGVs."

The decision to lift the restriction was approved by leading councillors during a cabinet meeting at the beginning of last November.

The councillors then asked the council to “call-in” the decision and discuss it at last week’s overview and scrutiny committee meeting.

Mr Hague believes Thurrock Council’s cabinet approved the proposal without vital information.

He added: “This is a flawed decision.

“The speed of vehicles on the road has not been considered and there has been no analysis on whether applying a re-surfacing treatment to the road would have any positive impact.

“I do sympathise with the residents of London Road but putting in place a weight limit there and lifting the one in Devonshire Road just shifts the problem to an area where residents have not experienced such volumes of HGV traffic.

“This cannot be the right thing to do and we will continue to work with residents and the Chafford Forum to fight this decision every inch of the way.”