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Controversial Saltby airfield plans are approved despite HGV concerns




A controversial plan to use an airfield for storage has been approved, despite concerns from residents about HGVs frequently using country lanes.

Melton Borough Council voted to approve retrospective plans to use Saltby Airfield as a straw storage facility for Sleaford Power Station renewable energy plant at a meeting on March 31.

This comes after the decision was deferred from October 2022 to allow for further discussions between the developer and local residents, who are concerned that the high volume of HGV vehicles accessing the airfield present problems.

A retrospective planning application for Saltby airfield has been submitted. (56145178)
A retrospective planning application for Saltby airfield has been submitted. (56145178)

According to the planning officer's report, the scheme will generate a maximum of 40 two-way vehicle movements, which means 20 in and 20 out within a 12-hour window.

Neither Leicestershire County Council nor Lincolnshire County Council's highways departments objected to the HGV routes within the application.

Speaking at the meeting on behalf of Croxton Kerrial Parish Council, Trisha Lawrence said: “We are still very concerned about this retrospective planning application.

"Saltby Airfield is 2.2 miles from the A607. All the routes to the airfield are along uncategorised, rural, narrow lanes. The large HGVs are struggling to get round the junctions.

"They have reversing beepers to warn other road users when they are reversing. These sound like alarm clocks within residents’ homes from 6am each day.

"The straw and diesel fumes create a hazardous environment particularly for the elderly and the young while using their private gardens which are on the road. This continues until 7pm each evening.

"The applicant did not offer anything to address our concerns about the moving of straw to and from the airfield and they chose the route from Hungerton, along Gorse Lane to Grantham, without community agreement.

"They weren’t honest about their intentions."

“This wouldn’t be acceptable in Melton, and shouldn’t be acceptable in the villages either. It’s extremely dangerous for local drivers, pedestrians and cyclists.

Keith Burnett spoke at the meeting as an objector to the plans. He said: “The consensus is that all of the narrow, country lanes around the site are too narrow to be dealing with frequent heavy industrial traffic.

"There are certainly a number of concerns around near misses, which many people have experienced, and for those who find that it doesn’t feel safe to travel to and from their own homes, the loss of amenity is fairly severe."

Paul Watson, agent for the applicant, said a village community engagement event that was held in October 2022 was "extremely helpful", and suggested holding regular meetings in the future for parish representatives to communicate any issues to them.

He said: “The proposal responds positively, in my view, to the issues raised and is again supported by both highway authorities.

"The deferral has been very helpful in facilitating discussions between the parties. Greater clarity has been provided regarding the application."

Councillor Chris Evans said: “The highways people have said there’s no problem but members of the public are concerned about their environment and there are policies that say we should minimise the impact of any development in environmental terms."

He stressed that all new applications need to consider environmental impact, adding "I feel uncomfortable with this because it doesn’t feel right".

Four councillors voted in favour of the officer's recommendation to approve the plans conditionally, with two voting against, and three choosing to abstain.



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