Burgess Hill factory bosses fear refuse tip lorry chaos
Bosses at Burgess Hill’s Sheddingdean Business Park say their traffic system would be ruined if refuse lorries are re-routed past their factories.
Developers proposing to build hundreds of houses want to extend and open up the Marchants Way cul-de-sac serving the estate to take traffic using the public rubbish tip nearby and a relocated travellers’ site.
At present the lorries and other drivers use a narrow road, but developers want that reserved for drivers travelling to the large new estate planned for the closed sewage works.
The factory bosses say the new lorry route would wreck the delicate balance they manage to achieve in dealing with turning lorries and parking place shortages, though they do not object to housing.
Peter Liddell, co-ordinator of Burgess Hill Business Parks Association, has lodged several objections. He said: “Fairbridge Way, which services the tip and the travellers’ site now, could be upgraded to take extra residential traffic to and from the proposed housing development without disturbing Marchants Way.”
Steven Mooney, of Steven Mooney machinery on the estate, said: “It will be breaking something that does not need to be broken. We have our problems here but it works.
“If they make this a through road, which it is not designed to be, it will all fall apart.”
Steve Willis, of Steve Willis Training, has also raised several objections and said of the application: “At least two of the businesses that occupy Marchants Way, including mine where young persons and apprentices are involved, have split sites with business premises either side of the road, and opening the road for through-traffic will bring additional risk to these users.
“Our younger 16 to 18-year-old learners are not exposed to these risks at the present time as the road is cul-de-sac.”
The application has yet to come before district councillors but a spokeswoman for the district council said that a likely date for it to go to committee would be April 18.
The application for planning approval has been submitted by Glenbie developers for the construction of new vehicle, walking, and cycle routes from Marchants Way and Fairbridge Way to serve the batching plant, waste transfer station, travellers’ site and the proposed future use of the former sewage treatment works for residential or other purposes.
The building of more than 300 houses on the former sewage treatment site will provide one of the biggest housing estates in recent years on the north west edge of town, near London Road.
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Saturday 25 May 2013
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