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Ending Abridge lorry hell

2:38pm Sunday 30th October 2005 in Search By Paul Donald

A MEETING which may end the "lorry hell" of residents in Abridge has been arranged for next week.

The Highways Agency will meet Epping Forest District Council, Essex Transport Police, Essex County Council's highway engineers and MP Eric Pickles next Thursday.

It is hoped that a solution to the current situation that has seen lorries using Abridge to deliver soil to the new Parsonage Farm golf course will be found. Eleanor Laing was also due to meet with the Highways Agency yesterday to discuss the issue.

District council leader John Knapman said that a possible diversion using a works unit slip road directly off the M11, and the possibility that enough earth was already on the site would be discussed.

News of the meeting should be welcomed by residents of Abridge, who have previously mounted protests on Abridge Road bridge over the ongoing lorry movements.

Fifty demonstrators risked arrest as they blocked the bridge on Monday, September 5.

Initially, the Highways Agency rejected the proposed use of the works sliproad, expressing concerns about lorries turning off the M11 at such a sharp angle, and that drivers would have to rejoin the motorway there, which was considered dangerous.

The Highways Agency agreed to give the proposal more thought when it was suggested that lorries could use Abridge to go back to the M11.

Mr Knapman said: "I am hopeful that sufficient pressure will now be brought to allow this M11 slip road to become a possibility.

"In order to have a belt and braces approach councillor Robert Glozier planning and economic development portfolio holder has asked officers to consider a stop action on the site following a survey undertaken by Epping Forest District Council.

"If we can achieve one or the other, we can make a big difference to the early morning lives of the people of Abridge in particular."

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