By Paul Soper
Local residents will remember the battle against the establishment of the concrete factory in Cranford Way, just yards from a children’s playground at Chettle Court at the end of Mountview and Ridge Roads. Towards the end of last year I got the impression that London Concrete who operate this site were exceeding the number of vehicles and movements and these drivers were often taking short cuts along Oakfield Road and then exiting via the ladder roads.
I asked Haringey to investigate and although they have not replied to me except to acknowledge my complaints they have encouraged London Concrete, it would seem, to regularise the situation. Haringey do not seem to be enforcing the planning conditions, although I could be wrong, if they won’t tell me (or us) how can we know – here is the text of an email I sent to Haringey Planning today concerning the application – London Concrete want to regularise the situation by a 200% increase in the number of vehicles and vehicle movements from this plant because they have been more successful than they originally thought! I have just learned that London Concrete have made an application for a staggering variation in the number of vehicle movements permitted from their site following a visit made, it would seem, by Ms Begum to ‘regularise’ the situation.
“I intend to protest in the strongest terms over this application and would be grateful if Haringey could assist me and other concerned residents over an application which makes a laughing stock of the conditions imposed by the Inspector at the original planning meetings some 10 years ago where local residents fought long and hard for reasonable conditions to be imposed. Those reasonable conditions are not merely being flouted but it would seem that London Concrete intend to drive a coach, sundry horses and a concrete lorry through them, and indeed I believe they are already doing so.
I read in their application that where the original number of vehicle movements was limited, without prior permission to 50 per day they now wish to increase this by 200% to 150 per day! They now want not 5 vehicles to be based at this depot but an increase of 120% to eleven vehicles – all eleven being franchised vehicles meaning that the vehicle drivers are not under the supervision, direction or control of London Concrete. If they were under supervision, direction and control they would, of course be employees. In effect 11 Deliveroo Concrete lorries!
They want to increase the number of private lorries from 6 per day (3 in, 3 out) to 18 per day with a maximum increased from 10 to 30 movements per day (15 in, 15 out). Arguably if their own drivers are in fact franchisees as they claim then this should be the maximum limit on their movements as well.
They also want to increase the number of cement deliveries to a maximum of 12 in any one day and six on a Saturday from four in one day and two on a Saturday although they seem happy to keep the overall average at nine. One of the prime factors that London Concrete kept stressing during the hearings was the ‘sustainability’ of deliveries to the site taking place by rail – how ‘sustainable’ is this.
More information on London Concrete application
London Concrete Application HGY/2017/0874
Consultation Ends on the 18th April 2017
