Update on Eric & Treby Construction Traffic

Following Trucks reversing without a banksman, MERA wrote to Tower Hamlets Council's Planning Department expressing our concern about the health and safety risks associated with Telford Homes' large construction lorries reversing without a banksman.

This is the very prompt reply (within 24 hours) that MERA got from Planning.

Telford's have responded to this issues you have raised and Jeremy Brett has advised that:-

We do have a qualified Banksmen on site who was working in the compound at the time. The vehicle drivers are supposed to report to the site office 1^st before they come onto site and in this case this did not happen and the driver has been reprimanded. All of the orders we place with Suppliers state that there will be no deliveries before 8am and we are enforcing this.

We are awaiting a delivery of Concrete Jersey barriers which physically separate the delivery vehicles from the public and so there will be no chance of anybody walking in front of a reversing vehicle

I would hope that this should prevent re-occurances of the problems you highlighted. I would stress that our Enforcement Team are monitoring this development, and can also review any specific issues that you bring to our attention.

Our follow-up response was as follows

I'm not quite sure how Jeremy Brett explains how this happened (ie was watched / photographed / videod) not once but multiple times during the course of the day - including AFTER Mark drew this to the attention of both Andy Osborne and Jeremy Brett.

One mistake may be an error. Repeated mistakes are negligence. Clearly no action was taken by any manager or responsible person yesterday.

We expect action to be taken

• by ensuring clear instructions are given to all delivery drivers.
• by ensuring the Banksman takes responsibility for the proper conduct of all subsequent visits by the same truck/driver if a genuine error is made - clearly this was not the case in this instance
• by the Site Manager actually managing the site - clearly not happening
• by the Client Project Manager and the Manager for Telford Homes actually taking action the same day to prevent future occurrences when advised of activities which are unsafe. Clearly did not happen.

We really do not want to have to be in a situation where we have to write to Planning every time to make sure corrective action is taken.

We'd like to see a plan of where these barriers are going to be put. Clearly they are not a solution if the entrance to Southern Grove remains open. A child could have entered the site and run/walked across while the driver was starting to reverse. Perhaps this matter could be reviewed by your Enforcement Team?

We expect both the client and the developer work to together to ensure the highest standards relating to the health and safety of all local residents are maintained AT ALL TIMES.

A construction lorry exiting into Southern Grove

Plus we also queried the routes being used by the construction traffic accessing the development site at Ennerdale House (Site 1)

Why are the trucks accessing the site NOT as per the Traffic Management Plan? (as yet not approved)

This is the description of site access as per the Traffic Management Plan on the Council website

Access to the Eric and Treby Estate

Construction vehicles travelling Westbound/Eastbound on the A11 (Mile End Road) heading for the site will be required to take the following route:-
• Turn left (if Westbound) or right (if Eastbound) at Southern Grove of the A11 onto Southern Grove
• Head in a Southerly direction, continuing until you come across Hamlet Way,
• Turn right onto Hamlet Way and continue travelling east,
• The Site Compound is ahead
• When leaving the site construction vehicles will be able to travel east on Hamlet Way to exit the development and turn right on Burdett Road

As you will have seen from the photographs and video this is NOT how construction traffic has been accessing the site

We're also rather puzzled by the paragraph about deliveries

Delivery Times

Construction vehicles are not to make deliveries to the site between the weekday hours of 08:00 and 16:00.

Are they proposing deliveries should be at weekends and when children are coming home from school?

One has to ask whether these plans actually mean anything at all given they are either not being complied or do not make sense.

If you have any queries please contact MERA
If you have a comments please leave it below