HGVs driving through Ockbrook and Spondon have been causing chaos for residents for a long time. Following my work on this issue over the last year, action is coming.
While I strongly support good local jobs and investment in the region, our communities deserve peace.
In Ockbrook, the noise of the HGV traffic is abysmal. It travels into peoples’ houses, and before the road was resurfaced, HGVs driving over potholes would shake their windows.
In Spondon and Ockbrook the roads aren’t suitable for HGV traffic, they are narrow village roads designed for residential traffic.
There have been calls by residents in both villages to put a weight limit on these stretches of road to ensure that the HGVs don’t use these roads, instead going through the M1.
I have frequently asked both Derbyshire County Council and Derby City Council to meet with me alongside local ward councillors and representatives from the relevant industrial site to take action on this issue.
While discussion regarding weight limits are ongoing, Derbyshire County Council will be putting up signs at West Hallam industrial estate directing traffic toward the M1, away from the A6096.
The authority is also in conversations with Sat-Nav companies to ask them to update their routing so commercial traffic isn’t directed back through Spondon and Ockbrook when leaving the West Hallam industrial estate.
I am hopeful that these changes will lead to a reduced level of HGV traffic – though more needs to be done to fully resolve this. I am keen to keep these conversations ongoing and bring the local authorities and stakeholders together so that we can work out a lasting solution on this issue.