Villagers at warfare with golf membership over growth plans amid fears the work will see 50 lorries a DAY smash their slender street
A prestigious golf club has become embroiled in a planning war with residents who fear proposals to develop the grounds will see heavy lorries take over a narrow road in their village.
Residents have been left furious with plans put forward by Hockley Golf Club in the South Downs over concerns that up to 50 HGVs will use their main road every day.
Angry residents in Twyford, Hampshire – where house prices average £825,000 – say their main road will become polluted and unsafe, because it is too narrow for lorries.
The B3335 that winds through Twyford and leads to Hockley Golf Club is already a ‘rat run’ which residents claim HGV drivers abuse by mounting kerbs to take corners.
Locals say they regularly have to dodge wing mirrors on HGVs when they take a stroll through their quaint village.
Hockley Golf Club, ranked as a ‘premier’ course on the South Downs with a full adult membership costing £1,684, has made a planning application to develop an eco-friendly irrigation system which enhances sustainability by collecting rain water.
As part of its proposals, it estimates up to 50 HGVs will travel to the club every day in order to move 130,000 cubic metres of spoil to the 18-hole course.
Lorries will rumble past the oldest prep school in the UK – Twyford School, where annual fees can reach up to almost £31,500.
Angry residents in Twyford, Hampshire are at war over proposals by Hockley Golf Club in the South Downs that could see up to 50 HGVs use the main road every day
Residents are especially worried that the lorries will increase traffic and pollution, as well as pose a risk to pedestrians
Some villagers have complained that there are too many HGVs already using the narrow road
Over 30 locals have formally objected, but the club argues only a limited number of lorries will use the main road in Twyford and that most will take the neighbouring M3 motorway.
A decision on the plans will be made by a planning committee on Thursday.
Hockley Golf Club, near Winchester, boasts of its location within the South Downs National Park and proudly states on its website: ‘Nestled in an ancient landscape, our club boasts a rich heritage that spans over 4,000 years’.
The area is famed for its chalk downlands and the James Braid-designed course has hosted top competitions.
Hockley Golf Club, which has received more than 80 letters of support, said in its application: ‘The development is anticipated to take place over a three-year period.
‘The required volume of inert soils importation (140,000m3) would equate to approximately 12,750 HGV loads.
‘The estimated number of daily HGV loads would be 50 and there would be 254 construction working days per year…
‘The total period of material importation if undertaken at a rate of 50 loads per day would therefore equate to approximately one full working year out of the wider three-year construction timescale.’
The golf club argues that only a limited number of lorries will use the main road in Twyford and that most will take the neighbouring M3 motorway
Managing director Joe Marshall, 57, and communications specialist Christianne, 43, are among the residents objecting the proposals
Hockley Golf Club has made a planning application to develop an eco-friendly irrigation system that collects rain water – but it estimates up to 50 HGVs will travel to the club every day in order to move 130,000 cubic metres of spoil to the 18-hole course
Hockley Golf Club insisted only a limited number of lorries will use the Twyford main road
The golf club is ranked as a ‘premier’ course on the South Downs with a full adult membership costing £1,684 per year
Emily and Robert Shepherd-Kemp, who are expecting their first child, said they are ‘worried’ about raising kids next to the already busy road, even without traffic from the development.
Chief of staff Mrs Shepherd-Kemp, 36, said: ‘The traffic is appalling, I don’t see how it can increase.
‘I am hugely in favour of anything environmentally conscious, but there are people with kids who drive them to the local primary school because it is so dangerous.
‘We have been told by a surveyor that large HGVs are causing structural damage because of the weight of the vehicles, the road needs reclassification.
‘One came through the house two years ago, before we lived here, it nearly got the pregnant wife next door as she was going upstairs, it is dangerous.
‘The damage, the noise pollution, you can feel the whole building shake when one goes past, I do worry about having children here.’
Dr Shepherd-Kemp, 32, added: ‘Why is it going through the village rather than the motorway.
‘I don’t see why they can’t limit the traffic.’
Residents have raised concerns that the main road through their village is too narrow to accommodate so many HGVs
Some residents claim the HGV lorries use the main road through the village as a ‘rat run’
Residents claim they have seen some HGVs mounting the pavements to get around traffic
Managing director Joe Marshall said additional traffic would worsen the risk of accidents on the road, which is not wide enough for two lorries to pass each other in some places.
The 57 year old said: ‘Where we live on the main road we are affected by the traffic, there is a lot that comes round this corner.
‘One of the big problems is when two lorries are coming towards each other, it is too narrow, there is an added risk of accidents caused by increased lorries.
‘I would object to the increase in lorries, if there was an alternative I don’t oppose what they are trying to do, it is the use of this road to move dirt around that would cause a lot of problems.
‘The obvious route to take the supplies is via the motorway, I understand that would cost more in time and fuel but it is for the safety and wellbeing of residents.
‘If I had a say I would definitely have a restriction on the size of lorries, they do use it as a rat run all the time.’
Farid Farasat, the partner of local councillor Ingrid Percival, said he had nearly been hit by a lorry while out walking his dog.
The 61-year-old project manager said: ‘We are not very happy with [the proposal], there are loads of trucks coming through already, they mount the kerbs, they are very dangerous.
‘One time I nearly got hit taking my dog for a walk.
‘Traffic is going to be quite heavy, god knows how many times there will be debris falling off the trucks.’
Communications specialist Christianne, who did not give her last name, lives up a small lane, but can still hear the constant stream of traffic on the main road.
The 43-year-old said: ‘We object [to the plan], we can hear the road and I think already there are so many lorries, they have been mounting the pavement, they are aggressive.
‘It is huge numbers of extra, I don’t see why they can’t use the M3.
‘I think to be good neighbours they need to come up with a proposal that suits their environment.’
Hockley Golf Club insisted only a limited number of lorries will use the Twyford main road.
Their report said: ‘The only HGVs that would turn left out of the site and utilise the B3335 through Twyford would be those returning to construction sites in the Fair Oak, Bishops Waltham and Botley catchment.’
Residents of Twyford, Hampshire, are up in arms over the possible disruption to their village
The sign for Twyford village just outside Hockley Golf Course
Ahead of the committee meeting on Thursday, planning officials from the South Downs National Park Authority have recommended the plans are refused.
The officers’ report said the plans ‘fail to conserve or enhance the landscape and scenic beauty of the National Park, by virtue of the importation of soils upon chalk downland which would create an incongruous scale, form and appearance of the development’.
