Alverton and Kilvington Parish Meeting

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Weight limit campaign

The Campaign

Alverton and Kilvington are campaigning for a 7.5 tonne weight limit through the two villages.  This is to counter severe nuisance from heavy lorries passing through, many on their way to the landfill site at Staple Lane.

We say that:-

• The number and type of lorries using the road is dangerous and that eventually there will be a serious accident
• The road surface is quickly being destroyed and maintenance costs, born by local council tax payers, are unacceptable
• The environmental problems caused by this level of traffic are unacceptable.

In November 2008 the Parish Meeting published a report into the problem.  This was submitted to County Councillor Stella Smedley (Lab), the portfolio holder for Transport and Highways.

By late January we had heard nothing from Cllr Smedley apart from a formal acknowledgement of our letter.  The road was then in an appalling state and on 28th January we sent her a set of photographs to illustrate the damage being done by the lorry traffic using the road. View the photographs.

This prompted two things:-

• Some workmen desperately filling the worst of the holes during wet weather, laying road materials into water filled holes!
• A letter from Cllr Smedley dated 4th February which essentially said very little, made no commitments and did not offer a meeting.

After further pressure was applied, including a letter from Patrick Mercer MP (Cons), a meeting took place in March 2009 with officers of the County Council Highways section. That meeting did not generate a substantive and positive response from the County Council.

In May the Parish Meeting submitted a petition to the County Council through our local member Sue Saddington (Cons).  The petition has been signed by members of the overwhelming majority of households in the two villages.

The petition, signed by 45 residents, read:-

We deprecate the continued use of the C3 road through Alverton and Kilvington as a route for heavy lorries. The noise, damage to the road and the danger resulting from this use are unacceptable and must end. Permitting the current level of heavy lorry use is not a rational policy. We call upon Nottinghamshire County Council to implement an immediate 7.5 tonne weight limit on this road

An accident involving a Kilvington resident and a lorry.  The lorry was well over the white line and it takes little imagination to think how much worse the accident could have been.

Following the local Council elections, the Conservatives took control at County Hall.  The cabinet member for highways is Mr Richard Jackson.  We hope to meet him soon to discuss this issue.

We will continue to press our point.  Leicestershire County Council have taken great strides to reduce the problem of lorry nuisance in their County.  We hope that Notts will now do the same.

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