LOCALS in Emmbrook are angry they will have to wait another three months before a concrete batching plant is finally closed.
They claim Berkshire Concrete has been operating illegally on the site on Old Forest Road since May 2017 and has continued to trade despite a retrospective planning application being rejected.
Residents say they have had to suffer excessive noise, pollution and heavy lorries on their doorstep for the past two years.
Paul Gallagher, chairman of the Emmbrook Residents Association, criticised Berkshire Concrete and described Wokingham Borough Council’s handling of the matter as “naïve and tardy.”
“We now hear the site will be cleared in August but all we can say is we’ll believe it when we see it,” he said.
“We do have concerns, not least because the council has been so ineffective in its handling of this matter and also because Berkshire Concrete has carried on operating despite not having permission to do so.”
In 2017, the company sublet land from the Suez recycling plant on Old Forest Road. In January last year, a refusal notice from Wokingham Borough Council was served to the company’s initial planning application. It cited a lack of environmental enhancement to the area, the buildings not being in keeping with the surrounding area and the application not having sufficient information to determine noise impact and traffic movements.
Mr Gallagher added: “We saw a huge tower appearing on the site and discovered it was part of a concrete batching plant installed on part of that land which Suez had sublet to Wiltshire Concrete and already in operation. Planning permission is required for such an installation but had not been applied for.
“Residents had to go to the council to point this out to them. It was only after we did this that the council took action.”
Mr Gallagher said residents were delighted to hear an August deadline had been set but they wanted to know why there is a delay.
“Berkshire Concrete and the council have both acted disgracefully. We have had to put up with this plant for two years and there is no reason why we should have to wait any longer.”
Tracy McQuaid, a director with Berkshire Concrete said: “I can confirm our Toutley Depot in Emmbrook is definitely moving in August.”
And a spokesperson for Wokingham Borough Council said: “Wokingham Borough Council took enforcement action against Wiltshire Concrete in January. Subsequently Wiltshire Concrete agreed to vacate the site and will now leave in August.”
