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Stansted Parish Council accuses Essex Highways of ‘reneging on promise’ to end lorry nightmare on Grove Hill




Stansted Parish Council is considering commissioning its own traffic survey of Grove Hill after accusing Essex Highways of “reneging” on its promises to rid the village of HGVs.

It follows publication of what it called a “flawed” survey carried out by Essex County Council’s highways department which concluded there was little evidence of the narrow route being overused by lorries and no need for a diversion via Hall Road in Elsenham.

Residents and parish councillors had pinned their hopes on the results revealing the extent of the problem on Grove Hill. But they were left disappointed by the “scrappy” survey excerpt they were served by highways, claiming the authority had “misled” them all along.

Cars struggle to pass a large lorry making its way down Grove Hill
Cars struggle to pass a large lorry making its way down Grove Hill

Promises had been broken after years of consultation, and in its formal response to the report, the parish council said: “The about-turn by Essex County Council... shows an insulting disregard for those suffering the impact of the rapid growth in traffic.”

Members agreed their response at last Wednesday’s (Oct 2) meeting of the full parish council, which challenged the findings of the survey and said it would investigate the costs of commissioning its own.

It said: “This parish council feels that this is a clear indication that Essex Highways is reneging on its previous promises by completing a full turnaround on the intention to relieve the residents of Grove Hill of this ‘nightmare scenario’.

“The summary report is unconvincing in explaining the rationale and evidence for the turnaround.

“Essex Highways has, by the release of their report, walked away from a problem that could be interpreted as one which they never intended to solve.”

The meeting heard that Essex County Council highways chief Cllr Tom Cunningham had agreed to meet with the parish council and Grove Hill residents next month to further discuss the issue.



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