STANFORD-Le-Hope residents were celebrating this week after a public inquiry ruled against an appeal regarding lorry movements down Wharf Road.
The core of the residents complaints were centred upon the movement of the lorries between 6am and 7am.
Squibb had appealed against a refusal by Thurrock Council to grant permission for the site to operate from its base without a series of conditions which the authority wanted to impose.
Those conditions involved the number of heavy goods vehicle movements to and from the site on the Stanhope Industrial Park – and particularly the movement of abnormal load vehicles.
Residents claim noise from the lorries, particularly in the early hours of the morning, was and is blighting their lives.
Planning inspector Isobel McCretton found that Squibb had a reasonable case with regard to ‘normal’ lorry movements but that the movement of abnormal loads was very much against the local residents’ interests.
Stanford West councillor Shane Hebb said: “The Planning Inspector has listened to reason, and her decision fell on the side of suffering residents. Low loaders were the main reason for Squibb’s appeal to be dismissed as such vehicles are ‘not conducive of local amenity’.
“How nice it is to have someone from outside the Borough with a fresh pair of eyes, who was able to visualise the havoc created by these dreadful, non-consented low loader movements. Truly, the higher powers are on our side and have answered our calls.
“I was once quoted as being ‘outraged’ by the audacity of the planning application submitted by Squibb concerning retrospective planning. Now I am ‘ecstatic.’
“The fact that the people of Wharf Road have presented themselves exceptionally capable and compassionate and still won goes to show that sometimes nice guys and gals do actually win, despite a lack of co-operation from those who were perceived to cause them harm and nuisance in their immediate community.
“I would like to congratulate everyone who had an involvement in this long campaign – residents of Wharf Road and surrounding roads, the Stanford Forum, and to certain officers in Thurrock Council, who laboured away like me, with a view of making the peoples lives of Wharf Road a bit more enjoyable and much more safe.”
