THERE’S light at the end of the tunnel for long-suffering Webheath residents fed up with the mud and mayhem from the Church Road development, says a borough councillor.
Residents have been complaining about the number of huge dumper trucks using local roads, being parked up and causing a traffic hazard, clogging streets at school times and spreading dirt everywhere.
However Coun David Bush (Con, West) says that after meeting with the site manager he has received assurances that ‘after a few days of pain things will get a lot better’.
“I spoke to the site manager and he told me they would be laying the roadway over the next few days and by the middle of next week this will have vastly improved the impact on local residents,” he said.
However he warned he’d been told that to construct it would require the movement of up to 20 vehicles a day to get the surface laid.
“I have been given re-assurances from the site manager that they will be working with the local community to minimise the impact,” said Coun Bush.
He added that he’d seen a traffic marshal on site guiding the heavy vehicles and had been assured that the contractors were working within the regulations.
One further complaint – of trucks on the road during busy school times – ‘would no longer be a problem’ said Coun Bush.
“It’s a case that after a few days of pain things will get a lot better,” he said.
The Church Road / Crumpfields Lane development is for 200 new homes and the mess created by contractors has sparked outrage among local residents.
As well as the traffic and mud, workers have been sinking piles into the sandy ground, the racket keeping people on night shifts awake during the day.
In addition locals fear construction work may have upset an old sewage plant, spreading a noxious smell across the area.
County Councillor Robin Lunn (Lab, Redditch North) has beeen in touch with the Health and Safety Executive and they are due to pay a site visit.
