Warehouse woe

Pictured here is local resident Ian Schofield with the warehouse in question.

‘Unbearable’ building noise angers residents

DISGRUNTLED residents have hit out at the excess noise early in the morning and late at night being made by “inconsiderate” contractors working on a warehouse development.

The thriving Beal Lane-based JD Williams site, in Shaw, is being extended with the construction of the new 60ft high building, which is set to be completed by February next year.

The site, which stores and dispatches leading fashion brands including Simply Be and Jacamo, sending parcels throughout the UK, Ireland, Europe and the USA, currently employs up to 1,000 people.

However, near-by residents have grown unhappy with the long hours being put in by the workers for Eric Wright Construction.

Ian Schofield, whose house overlooks the construction site, said the staff are starting work as early as 5.30am and finishing as late as 10.30pm.

A condition of the development’s planning permission was that working hours were restricted to between 8am and 10pm.

Mr Schofield, a graphic designer who works from home, said: “I wake up every morning to the unbearable noise being made by the workers and because I work from home I have to endure it all through the day and then it sometimes goes on until I go to sleep at night. There’s just no escape. It’s getting to the point where it is making me feel ill.

“I want to stress that I don’t have an issue with the fact a warehouse is being built, people need jobs. I just don’t see why they are able to get away with working such ridiculous hours. I’m sure if I started building something in my back garden after 10 O’clock at night the police would be straight round.

“I talk to other residents about it and the majority are of the same opinion. We should not have to put up with constant noise pollution, it’s not fair.

“It’s not just the noise either, the building is lit up every night, so bright it’s making me feel ill and it can be seen from miles away.”

Paul Speakman, project manager of Eric Wright Construction, said:: “At present, the nature of our activities involves time-critical concrete pours which sometimes requires contractors to be on site outside of working hours. Four have currently been completed with another four remaining and therefore during this section of the build process we will continue to give residents notice of any potential out of hours working.

“Being a member of the Considerate Contractors scheme means we promise to keep disruption to the local community to a minimum during all projects.

“We also strive to keep local residents informed of all our activities, with regular updates including newsletters being distributed to all homes within the area prior to starting on site to ensure they understand the type of work taking place.

Councillor Dave Hibbert, Cabinet Member for Housing, Planning and Transport, said: “When this planning application was passed a restriction for working times between 6am and 10pm was stipulated.

“The machinery involved in building the warehouse flooring does make some noise and this has been reported to us by residents.

“We’ve been told by the construction firm involved that they are trying to complete the work as quickly as possible to keep any noise nuisance down to a minimum. They have four floors to complete and are doing it one day at a time but because concrete is being used the work is weather dependent.

“We are monitoring the situation and an officer has been onsite to check that the 10pm deadline is being kept to.”