20/3/2008

News in Farnborough

Residents’ views on the Pyestock plans

Jim Russell

Jim Russell, 72, of Reading Road South, Church Crookham, is a retired engineer who used to work at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough.
"I am hoping that they will get this thrown out," he said. "I think it is appalling.
"If you have ever driven from exit 4a on the M3 to Fleet between 4.30pm and 5pm, the traffic is absolutely diabolical.
"I don’t think we can do this. It must look nice to someone sitting in a central planning office, looking at how close Pyestock is to the M3, but it is not a good junction.
"Where I live I can see the tailbacks along the road already from Church Crookham.
"If it is a distribution warehouse, they have got to get the stuff in and out, and that will mean even more traffic. There are lots of reasons why they should stop this but that I think that is the worst thing."

Karen Charlesworth and Adrian Hills

Karen Charlesworth, 46, and Adrian Hills, 44, of Farnham Road, Fleet, were also worried about the proposal.
"We want it stopped," said Miss Charlesworth, who is self-employed.
"We live just 500 yards away from the site so we are going to hear every single lorry that goes in and out, 24 hours a day.
"I hope it gets a good airing tonight. We have been to previous meetings so we hope we get a chance to get our concerns forward.
"We feel it is a foregone conclusion, despite all the letters of objection – that is my fear. We get the feeling they will go over people’s heads."
Mr Hills, who works at Nokia in Southwood, said he was worried that a decision to refuse planning permission would be overruled at an appeal, as happened with the application to double the number of weekend flights at Farnborough Airport.
"They have done it with the airport so we are worried they will do it again," he said.
"Because we live in Pondtail and I work at Nokia I would be seriously affected by this.

Joan Gravestock, right (With daughter Nicola)

Joan Gravestock, a legal assistant, of Cedar Drive, Fleet, came to the meeting with her daughter Nicola. She said her life would be "massively" affected if the warehouse were built.
"We live very close to the site. What people fail to realise is that the site is on a hill and we are going to have huge problems with the noise.
"The infrastructure won’t be able to cope with the amount of lorries coming in. I just don’t see how the roads are going to cope with it.
"We are most worried about the fact that it is going to be operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The noise and pollution will just go on and on – we will never get any peace.
"We have lived there for 20 years and now they are intruding on our right to a peaceful life.
"That was common land until it was taken by the Ministry of Defence. It was not theirs to sell on. I don’t think they have the right to make money off the backs of others.
"This is just insidious growth, it just seems to go on and on. You feel they are putting in application after application. And we feel like we are fighting the whole time.

First printed in: Farnborough News and Mail