Representation by Sarah Pickering-Paterson
- Date submitted
- 30 March 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I’m writing to OBJECT this application and request the County Council reject the proposal. There is no room for oncoming cars or lorries to pass. This single track road has only 1 passing place (only large enough for a car) before reaching the right hand turn to Northlands Road to get to the site. Massive numbers of 100 proposed HGV lorries will not fit down this road. Currently one struggles and any more would be unsafe and totally destroy the edges of the road. The single track road is approximately 3.5km from the edge of Glentworth village to the proposed site. Cars, construction site vehicles and lorries trying to pass each other down this single track road with one passing place from Glentworth to Northlands Road and only two passing places on Northlands Road are big enough for lorries to wait while another passes. The one passing place from the edge of Glentworth to the entrance of Northlands road is too small for a lorry to fit to allow another lorry of farm vehicle to pass The verges are already churned up due to the lack of passing places. How will 100 lorries per day pass each other on this narrow lane? The single track roads from Glentworth village to the proposed site are inadequate for industrial vehicles on such a large scale that has been proposed on a daily basis. The roads on Kexby Road and Northlands Road are already in very poor condition and are broken up with potholes all over the place. The road network to the site from the B1389 to Kexby Road and Northlands Road will not sustain the industrialisation of the rural roads. There will be unbelievable measures of traffic down the B1389, Kexby Road and Northlands Road for 15 years. The massively increased levels of industrial traffic and the 100 lorries per day will also affect the surrounding villages and residents of Fillingham (High St) and Ingham (Hanover Hill) when accessing the B1389. When there is an accident on the A15 the traffic is often diverted down the B1389. How will this road cope with situations like this? Drivers already drive on the opposite side of the road going up Kexby Road Hill to the B1398 to navigate past all the potholes and bumps in the road to avoid damaging their cars. The road surfaces from the top to the bottom of Kexby Road are in very poor condition and are broken up with potholes all over the place. The road surface at the top of Kexby Road leading onto the B1398 is already in a terrible state. More traffic will destroy the road surface even more. This also causes more road noise. Horse riders, cyclists and pedestrians use this single track road frequently throughout the day and evening. Driving huge amounts of lorries past horses may spook them causing distress to riders and a greater chance of an accident happening. Would drivers be able to adhere to the Highway Code given the number of vehicle proposed to pass down Kexby Road and Northlands Road? How will lorries and farm traffic (tractors, combines) pass each other? The Highway Code: 155 Single-track roads. These are only wide enough for one vehicle. They may have special passing places. If you see a vehicle coming towards you, or the driver behind wants to overtake, pull into a passing place on your left, or wait opposite a passing place on your right. Give way to vehicles coming uphill whenever you can. If necessary, reverse until you reach a passing place to let the other vehicle pass. Slow down when passing pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders. The on-street parking on Kexby Road for residents would be an obstruction to the huge numbers of proposed HGV’s and site construction vehicles trying to pass through the village. The noise levels for residents caused by huge numbers of lorries on Kexby Road would be unbearable. The vibrations from the lorries would be felt in their houses. Children play on these roads, its not safe for such a large amount of industrial traffic to pass through the village of Glentworth. The verges are already damaged in places from traffic trying to pass each other on these single track roads on Kexby Road. With an excessive amount of 100 lorries per day proposed to travel down Kexby Road to the site, the carriageway and verges will be destroyed in no time and become muddy making the roads slippery and dangerous to cars, pedestrians and cyclists. Where will pedestrians stand, where will a cyclist wait to let lorries past if these verges are churned up and become too muddy to stand on? Does access to the site and surrounding area meet the HSE Roadways/ site traffic control/ immobilisation of vehicles guidelines? Link below for HSE: Roadways / site traffic control / immobilisation of vehicles (hse.gov.uk) Is this proposal to the site able to maintain the law around mud and industrial deposits on the road? The law around mud and industrial deposits that may occur on the Kexby Road and Northlands Road: With hundreds of HGV’s and industrial vehicles proposed to pass down the narrow single track roads (up to 16 vehicles an hour in this proposal for 4 years and 4 months), vehicle operators and contractors who deposit this mud on the road are potentially liable for a range of offences. This guidance note is not a complete statement of the law or of your responsibilities and possible liabilities. The definition of a public highway includes footways, footpaths and adjacent verges, bridleways as well as the road itself whether adopted or not. Mud on the road is mainly caused by heavier vehicles such as lorries and tractors leaving sites under development, quarries or agricultural fields; it occurs more frequently when the weather is wet. Recent weather patterns suggest climate change is leading towards wetter autumns and winters. This guidance note would not normally apply to reasonable use of the Highway from residential properties. A range of powers are available to the Police and the Highways Department, primarily the Highways Act 1980; and the Road Traffic Act 1988. Highways Act 1980 Section 137 states “If a person, without lawful authority or excuse, in any way wilfully obstructs the free passage along a highway he is guilty of an offence”. Highways Act 1980 Section 148 “If without lawful authority or excuse a person deposits anything whatsoever on a highway to the interruption of any user of the highway he is guilty of an offence” Highways Act 1980. Section 149 of the Highways Act states “if anything is deposited on the highway so as to constitute a nuisance/danger the Highway Authority can require the person who put it there to remove it forthwith”. Mud causes skidding and is therefore dangerous and a nuisance. Highways Act 1980 Section 161 states “If a person, without lawful authority or excuse, deposits anything whatsoever on a highway in consequence of which a user of the highway is injured or endangered, that person is guilty of an offence”. Furthermore, the Road Traffic Act 1988 covers situations where a mechanically propelled vehicle is driven dangerously on a road. Driving dangerously can include driving a vehicle in a state that could cause danger to others. Punishment for these offences ranges from fines to imprisonment. All of the above are valid reasons why this proposal should be objected by the county council due to the mud and debris that will be on the road due to the massive number of vehicles proposed to travel down Kexby Road and Northlands Road. There is already a lot of mud on the roads from the IGAS site and poor road conditions at the site entrance on Northlands road. The UK already exports the majority of its oil and gas abroad and this scheme will not reduce the UK fuel prices nor will it strengthen our security of supply. This proposal only further benefits shareholders of the oil and gas companies whilst having zero impact on our escalating fuel costs. We as a local community will however be subject to greater levels of pollution and traffic on the county roads which are already some of the most dangerous and badly maintained in the whole country. The only benefits here are for the shareholders. The scheme will not benefit the environment nor the residents of Glentworth the surrounding villages or Lincolnshire. Lastly IGAS state in their Landscape Visual Impact Assessment (4.3.20) that “No other proposed or consented developments were identified with the study area and potential cumulative landscape effect have therefore not been considered any further during this assessment”. There is currently a proposal for 10,000 acres of farmland to be used for solar farms and the oil well proposed in this application are right in the middle of the proposed solar farm development! Link to solar farms development proposal. These proposed Solar Farms cover an area of approximately 10 thousand acres of land around Gainsborough, stretching from Gringley in the west across to Hemswell in the east, and going as far south as Torksey. With the proposal of industrial vehicles from IGAS oil wells in this proposal and the 10,000 acres of farmland industrial traffic that may come to fruition, the farmland traffic, the residents traffic, the horse riders, the cyclists and the pedestrians, how will these roads cope? Is this not an accident waiting to happen? Due to all of these issues, I am OBJECTING this application and request the County Council reject the proposal.