Harborough MP backs construction traffic protesters

Avant Homes Ltd has asked the council for permission to put building site traffic down two current cul-de-sacs – Measham Close and Charley Close – to serve a proposed 215-home estate at Farndon Fields.

Residents say the access plan is “absolute madness”. They are concerned at the danger and mess of the heavy construction traffic.

Harborough District Council planners have already deferred a decision on access to investigate an alternative route.

Now MP Neil O’Brien has stepped into the debate, after meeting the Farndon Fields Residents’ Group.

Neil said: “These roads were not designed to carry huge trucks and equipment, and developers current proposals would mean massive trucks trying to thread their way through narrow roads for years.

“In the initial phases of clearing the site the developers have been perfectly able to get heavy vehicles onto it via a different route – that must also be the right approach for the long term.”

Chair of Farndon Fields Residents’ Group, James Bolter said: “This isn’t about trying to stop the development of the new houses, but making sure it’s done safely.”

The district council’s planning committee will meet on February 6 to decide how construction traffic should access the site. But an alternative suggested route through Northamptonshire got short shrift from Northamptonshire County Council officers.