Condition-free move
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• A Rotherhambased haulage firm has been allowed to move its operations to Barnsley without any environmental conditions. But North Eastern Deputy Traffic Commissioner Patrick Mulvenna has extracted a series of undertakings designed to minimise the effect on neighbouring residents. Robert Andrews and Fred Carroll, trading as RF Shipping & Transport Services, will now be allowed to base 13 vehicles and 12 trailers at the Low Valley Industrial Estate, Darfield, Barnsley. Local residents were concerned about the adequacy of the access road and nuisance caused by fumes and dust Traffic examiner Timothy Shaw said the firm had been given interim authority to use the site in March. There had been complaints about vehicles being parked in the access road and mounting the kerb. During observations in April he had seen an artic and a rigid enter the site without any problem. There was evidence that a vehicle had mounted a kerb close to the residents' homes but there was no way of knowing that it was an RF Shipping vehicle.
Shaw felt that the site was suitable for this number of vehicles and trailers. The residents felt the biggest problem was pollution. They thought that conifers screening the site were dying because of exhaust fumes from the vehicles. They were also concerned about the prospect of 24-hour operation and wanted restrictions on working hours at the site.
For the firm, Gary Hodgson pointed out that the residents had chosen to live close to an access road to an industrial estate. However, he said the firm was prepared to order its drivers to avoid parking any vehicles on the access road; to keep noise to a minimum; to observe a lOmph limit along the access road; and to avoid the use of mainbeam headlights.
Robert Andrew said they did not want to be precluded from expanding the business by having time restrictions on the licence.
Mulvenna said he could find no compelling reason for denying use of the site. By law he had to take account of the effect on the business of any environmental conditions and he felt that such conditions could have a drastic effect.