Residents’ call for action on ‘poisonous’ construction dust from lorries rejected by council

After years of disruptions from the building of 700 new homes, Kingsley residents last night called on Harrogate Borough Council to only allow sealed wagons in and out of the area which has rapidly expanded in size and will continue to do so for years to come.

John Hansard, a member of the Kingsley Ward Action Group, told a full council meeting the authority had an obligation to protect residents from harm and that this has “fallen very far short of acceptable levels”.

“We are simply requesting that we are no longer poisoned by harmful and dangerous construction waste,” he said.

However, councillor Tim Myatt, cabinet member for planning at the council, said the authority did not have evidence that the dust was toxic and that a ban on open-top lorries could not be enforced.

He said: “It is a highly unusual practice to require sealed containers to transport items to and from development sites. This can not be retrospectively imposed as a planning condition and neither residents or members of the planning committee asked for this to be conditioned at the time of the application.

“Further, the local highways authority has informed the borough council that they would not be able to mandate the use of sealed containers. They believe the use of such can only be required for certain processes such as the removal of radioactive material and asbestos.”

Coun Myatt also said housing developers had repeated their offer to clean roads and pavements in the area, but this was “vociferously opposed” by residents.

Construction work in Kingsley first began in 2019 and residents have long complained that not enough has been done to minimise disruptions to their daily lives.

There have also been complaints that improvements to roads, public transport, health services and community facilities have not kept up with the level of new housing in the area.

Around 700 new homes are already built or under construction, with hundreds more in the pipeline.

Mr Hansard told the meeting that without action from the council, residents would continue to be left to “suffer the consequences”.

He said: “These wagons have continually polluted Kingsley Road over a three year period, causing potential long-term serious illness for residents. We reluctantly understand that the road has to be used for access to the construction sites, but this must not be at the risk to the health of residents.”