Southampton Container Logistics backs residents' calls for a truck ban near a local school. A Southampton haulage company has sided with villagers angered by trucks using a route near a local school - it says a ban should be introduced. Villagers in Marchwood have been told by Hampshire County Council (HCC) that too few LGVs are using Hythe Road to justify restricting their movements. A day-long survey by the HCC traffic management group found 90% of trucks used Jacobs Gutter Lane to reach the A326, rather than Hythe Road it therefore recommended no action.
The long-running feud between residents and businesses running trucks out of the nearby Marchwood Industrial Estate has led to calls for LGVs to be banned from Hythe Road. John Leath, transport manager for Southampton Container Logistics, which is based on the estate, says regardless of the numbers of lorry movements, a truck ban should be enforced: "I live in Marchwood, my wife works in both schools. As far as I am concerned, Jacobs Gutter Lane is the only real arterial route to use to get into Marchwood. The other side of it, from the Hythe direction, takes you back through the schools, which is something I wouldn't condone."
Dominic McGrath from HCC traffic management group says: "It was a recommendation, rather than a decision. We were looking at it in terms of traffic generation, rather than in terms of traffic conditions along the stretch of road. "The council did introduce restrictions for most of the village about two years ago. Whether Hythe Road should be included within those restrictions was discussed at the time. And the decision was it wasn't appropriate within the wider restrictions."
