Planning authorities lose route controls
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by Karen Miles • Waste disposal, quarry and mine operators will be free of lorry routeing controls within weeks as the Government prepares to tell planning authorities that they cannot govern truck movements in and out of sites.
But in the long run the changes could mean that planners try to curb the opening of new sites.
The Depart ment of Envirmunent is due to issue a Mineral Planning Guidance note at the end of the month.
When it comes into force on I November this note will effectively cancel up to 3,000 agreements in force throughout the UK—and this conies as good news to tippermen.
Skipton haulier Ken Longthorne says: "It's a bloody good thing. At one point we were facing a 35-mile route instead of a five-mile route to a quarry—a route which would have taken us through six villages instead of passing just 11 farms. The planning rules were madness."
Site operators will either have to make voluntary routeing agreements with planners or risk local opposition as they run vehicles through villages and other sensitive locations. Operators are expected to retain the right to decide on the volume of traffic using their sites.