I have received a number of complaints about mud on roads and asked HCC Enforcement to look at 3 sites in particular. They were Blackbushes Road, Coopers Hill and Fox Lane.
The operators on Blackbushes road and Coopers Hill immediately stepped up their wheel cleaning operation, although it is still not perfect following a meeting with Cemex today I have been assured it is getting better.
The mud from Fox Lane will get better as per the letter from David Smith HCC Enforcement below.

However if YOU still see too much mud from the quarry sites then please let me know so I can do something about it.

I attended a meeting on site on Friday morning with officers from Highways and Hart’s Environmental Health and representatives of both Cemex and their sub-contractor, Inert Recycling. It was agreed that the current wheel cleaning facilities are insufficient for the number of lorries using the site unless the road sweeper is in constant use. Given that EHO have received complaints about noise from the sweeper, this is not an option. Therefore, Inert Recycling have agreed to acquire another, more effective wheel wash to replace the existing facilities. However, this will take a month to get supplied and installed, so it should be in place by beginning February. In the meantime, a new cleaning regime has been agreed with Highways and the EHO to control the mud/staining whilst not causing too much noise nuisance. This will involve the sweeper going out after every 4th lorry, but concentrating its efforts on the stretch of haul road immediately after the wheel wash and along to the entrance. It is thought that this will provide more effective cleaning in the first place, so reducing the amount of mud then tracked further out onto Fox Lane. This will continue to be monitored to confirm whether this has controlled the problem, and EHO will be in contact with those reporting noise issues during this period. Should Highways determine that there is still a highway safety concern, then further works or facilities will be required.

With regards the actual operation on site, Cemex and Inert Recycling both confirmed that all material going into the site is for the current restoration works. Although they will be restoring the Wokingham site, this will not be for a couple of years.

For your information, the site will close this Friday and then re-open on 2nd Jan.

Regards,

David Smith
Monitoring & Enforcement Officer
County Planning
Economy, Transport & Environment Dept
Hampshire County Council

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