Please see the reply which Graham Ellis received from the Engagement Manager. Graham that villagers keep an eye out for heavy goods movement in the near future!
Dear Graham,
Thank you again for bringing the issue of HGVs driving through Preston Bissett to our attention. I can confirm that the vehicles you photographed were working on behalf of EKFB, and the supplier had not followed the correct process of applying for and following a designated route.
We have now taken several actions as a result of this, which include:
-Halting all deliveries from the supplier with immediate effect and investigated the reasons behind the route taken. Until this has been fully rectified deliveries of track matting have been suspended to our local sites -Spoken to the supplier and we are working to retrain them on our processes -Given a toolbox talk to the GI teams to explain why deliveries has been stopped -Spoken with the traffic teams about approved routes and deliveries to the compound. They will be reassessing the routes in this area to ensure we identify the most suitable designated route for HGVs -Appointing a local traffic safety officer who will be roaming in the vicinity of Twyford to the A43 to enable a quick response to community concerns.
However, I must emphasise that we are constrained within our routes to site, both by the HS2 Act and the fact that this is a rural area. Once the haul and access roads have been constructed, this will provide a dedicated route for our construction traffic to use. Until that has been constructed, we do need to use the local road network to access our early works such as our ground investigations sites. The team are looking to keep routes to the Preston Bissett Road and Gawcott Road as much as possible and we hope the actions I have mentioned above significantly reduce these occurrences, but we cannot guarantee there will be never be a HGVs driving through Preston Bissett.
Other instances where you may see traffic related to HS2 works prior to Christmas are the utilities trials that are taking place around Chetwode. I can see on your parish website, and residents have shown me, that you have received diversion routes for these. The closures for these are very short term, one day per trial hole, to keep disruption to a minimum.
I do hope this has helped alleviate your concerns and I apologise for any disruption caused to the community.
If you would like to arrange a virtual meeting to discuss anything further in more detail, please do get in touch and I would be more than happy to set something up.
Kind regards,
Lucy
Lucy Colls
Engagement Manager
Eiffage Kier Ferrovial BAM JV | HS2 Team | 1 Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD
Mob: +44 (0) 7771833926 | E: lucy.colls@EKFB.com | www.EKFB.com