Residents in Astley have launched a furious tirade at the “24/7 noise” created by four 60-foot warehouses built just metres from their back gardens.
Speaking to GB News, John Peters and Steve Retford expressed their outrage at the logistics operation causing disruption to the community, branding it “horrendous”.
Residents near the Astley Business Park in Tyldesley have complained about noise from HGVs operating throughout the night.
Construction completed on the site in January and Mr Retford’s picturesque views of fields over the garden fence he’s had for 40 years have been destroyed in favour of the warehouses.
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Newly-elected Greater Manchester Mayor Bev Craig says planning rules should be reviewed after complaints that warehouses are simply being built “too close to people’s homes”.
Discussing the impact on their daily lives, Mr Retford told the People’s Channel although Whistl, the company which operates there, has tried to mitigate the issue, it is still “dreadful” for the community.
He said: “It’s quite horrendous, actually; the noise that emanates from this operation run by Whistl is dreadful.
“Whistl, in fairness to them, are trying to mitigate it, but how can you operate a situation like they run quietly? It’s an impossibility.”
Mr Retford stressed: “The residents are just having to endure it constantly, it’s a living hell, it really is.
“You’re woken every single night, not the odd night, every night, it’s just awful, and it’s having a dramatic impact on the community in such a detrimental way.”
Discussing his campaign against the warehouses, Mr Peters told reporter Sophie Reaper that “every day is a battle” and they are still questioning “how it was passed in the first place”.
He told Britain’s News Channel: “Well, every day is a battle. I think the WhatsApp group starts at 7am in the morning and goes through till midnight. We’re discovering something more or less every day.
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“We’ve still got lots of questions about how this thing was passed and why they did this to local people, it was definitely 100 per cent profit over people.”
Mr Peters made clear: “And they are this scale in size because they wanted the biggest possible warehouses together with the biggest possible car parking for workers; that is, actually, hardly any of them are local people. They’ve all been imported from previous locations.
“So we’re still working on that. Now Whistl has made some concession to us; they’ve admitted that it’s probably not the right place to put a logistics warehouse, and they’ve said they’ll stop working from 12 midnight till 6am in the morning.”
However, Mr Peters warned the change in timings will cause congestion in the mornings, particularly during the school run.
He said: “We’ve got to be grateful for the concessions, it allows some sleep during the night, but the knock on effect is that there’ll be congestion before 12 midnight, and of course, six in the morning till eight.
“There’ll be more lorries when the kids go to school, rush hour traffic, everybody’s going to suffer.”
In a statement, Aidan Thatcher, director for place at Wigan Council, said: “This planning application went through our planning consultation and committee process.
“The final plans include landscaping which will help to screen and soften the appearance, and mitigate the impact on nearby properties.
“We will continue to monitor the site throughout construction, ensuring this development bringing new jobs and investment to the area is delivered properly.”
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