Rise in tipper trucks travelling to and from development sites in Uttlesford and East Herts leads to calls for summit to tackle problem

An alarming rise in tipper trucks travelling through Stansted and neighbouring villages will be tackled with a summit involving multiple agencies across Essex and Hertfordshire.

The lorries, which begin their journeys early in the morning, are making life a misery for residents throughout Uttlesford as they travel to and from development sites, including from across the border in East Herts, to dump their loads.

Villagers living on Stansted's Grove Hill and Chapel Hill have complained of being woken early by trucks thundering past. Country lanes and verges are being damaged while concerns have been raised over whether the soil being deposited is contaminated.

Estimates suggest a staggering 225 trucks pass through Stansted a day.

This, combined with the ongoing problem of lorries flouting weight restrictions on Grove Hill and what can be done to rid the village of HGVs, has resulted in the perfect storm and residents' patience is running out.

At a meeting of Stansted Parish Council's highways sub-committee, Essex county councillor Ray Gooding said these were two distinct issues. A multi-agency approach was need to tackle the tipper trucks while he has promised to provide Grove Hill residents with a timetable for action.

"Having had a conversation with Cllr Lee Scott [ECC cabinet member for highways, maintenance and sustainable transport], we are going to call a summit to get everybody together," he said. "The Highways Agency, Environmental Agency, Essex Waste and Minerals, Uttlesford District Council and East Herts...

"We need to find out why there is this increase in trucks. Most of it seems to be coming from the Bishop's Stortford North development and it's being dumped in all sorts of locations here.

"We also know a lot of lorries are coming from Elsenham, early in the morning, and the locations of spoils being dumped is constantly changing as landowners make an awful lot of money from it – £200 per lorry load."

A strategic plan to ban lorries from the centre of Stansted was proving complicated for fear of moving the problem elsewhere. An alternative route via Elsenham's Hall Road was now the subject of serious safety concerns following two fatal crashes in recent weeks.

Stansted parish and Uttlesford district councillor Geoffrey Sell said residents were getting "more and more frustrated" by the lack of action.

Parish councillor Peter Jones added: "I don't accept 'We are working on it'. It's not good enough from an organisation the scale of Essex Highways."

Cllr Gooding replied: "Everybody understands there are quick wins that would be unacceptable to residents [on Grove Hill]. Removing parking would remove the congestion in an instant but would be hugely controversial. In terms of resolving this, it has to be something sustainable and that is where the problem lies."

In an email to Essex Highways, Grove Hill resident Patrick Hearne said there had been "a dramatic increase in the volume of traffic and size of vehicles using the road".

"Over 20 16-wheel tipper trucks now use Grove Hill from 6am until 4.30pm, six days per week, often two, three or four trucks at the same time – a staggering 225 tipper trucks per day.

"It's only a question of time before a pedestrian is badly hurt or killed, which will have serious consequences for the local authorities unless large trucks are prohibited from using the road."

In a statement issued by residents, who have been placing cones along the pavement in a bid to deter vehicles from mounting them, they responded to the threat of prosecution.

"Instead of sending veiled threats of prosecution on placing of cones, why does Ray Gooding not be more proactive, use his energy and resources better and urgently seek prosecution on the actual illegal and seriously dangerous daily occurrence of vehicles jumping red lights, HGVs ignoring the restriction as they drive up Grove Hill, the driving on pavements as HGVs force other vehicles off the road, putting people’s lives in danger, and potential illegal soil dumping as 32-tonne HGV tipper trucks (100+ a day) use the village as a cut-through for which they are far too big for the roads?’’