In response to the recent article by Mike Webster of Hills about large articulated HGVs passing through our village, Compton Bassett Parish Council would like to point out that there is a 7.5-tonne weight restriction through the village to prevent damage to the verges, pavements and road surfaces.

Large vehicles in a small village are dangerous and cause significant road damage including broken pavements, potholes, crushed verges, road drain and relief ditch blockages, so that our road is unable to cope with heavy rainfall.

As a direct consequence of recent damage to the verges/relief ditch blockages caused by HGVs, the recent heavy rain has caused minor flooding in the village, with the release of effluent in one case from which we received a formal complaint.

We fear that if Hills gets permission for its proposed large new facility at Lower Compton, Mr Webster will be apologising on a daily basis, as the current incident is likely to be only one of many future such incidents, particularly as Hills admits that it has no control over the majority of the 95,000 HGVs per year which will be required to service the facility on a permanent basis.

It is very clear that if Hills wants a very large facility which requires such enormous HGV movements, it should be located by the M4 and not in a rural location such as Compton Bassett. Mr Webster’s apologies will not pay for the disruption and damage to our village caused by his or his contractors’ HGVs.

Compton Bassett Parish Council