Refuse trucks cause ire

Press, 28 February 1986, Page 4

Refuse trucks cause ire

Residents of Bealey Avenue and Sherborne Street are tired of refuse trucks that have been rerouted along their streets. A petition of 221 signatures against the change was received by the Christchurch Metropolitan Refuse Disposal Committee at its monthly meeting. A letter from the owners of Bealey Lodge was also received, and both items have been referred to a sub-committee for comment. One Sherborne Street resident, Mr Len Edmunds, says houses “vibrate” with the noise of the trucks.

The heavy vehicles rumbled along the streets regularly from early in the morning to late in the day, he said.

Refuse trucks returned to their previous route of Parkhouse Road, Blenheim Road, Deans Avenue, Bealey Avenue, Sherborne ■ Street, Cranford Street, Innes Road

and Marshland Road in December after an alternative route through Fendalton brought complaints and petitions from residents.

The committee had approved the trial route last September after it had been found that the route would save about 2km each way and $38,000 a year.

Fears were raised by Heaton Street residents about the safety of schoolchildren.

Heaton Street might have a school but Bealey Avenue had two hospitals with patients needing peace and’ quiet, said the proprietor of Bealey Lodge, Mr Tony Le Cren. “It is an imposition on ratepayers. No other trucks kick up quite as much of a din as they do,” he said.

Mr Le Cren said he had claimed in his letter that the continual use of the route by the trucks was causing wear and tear on

Bealey Avenue and suggested railing the refuse to the Waimairi pit.

The committee’s chairman, Mr Ron Wright, said the opening of the northern transfer station in May would even out greatly the transfer of rubbish. He thought the reduction in the number of trucks using the route might be as much as 50 per cent

Mr Wright said the whole routing of refuse trucks would be reconsidered with the opening of the new station. “But we have to face reality—they are arterial roads,” he said.

“We tried the Heaton Street-Glandovey RoadStraven Road route for a trial period for three months but it did not prove satisfactory,” he said of assertions some committee members : had made last year that the change in route was favouritism towards Heaton Street residents.

Of complaints about early-morning truck trips, Mr Wright said an occasional breakdown meant drivers would sometimes have to start earlier than 7.30 a.m. Another Sherborne Street resident, Mr Kevin Halley, said he had not known about the petition but thought that a better circulation would have meant a much greater number of signatures. “Living on State highway 1, you have to expect a lot of vehicles — I myself like a busy scene. But they (the trucks) run through from practically daybreak until late in the afternoon, not only during the week but on Saturdays and Sundays, even on public holidays.” Mr Halley said he was concerned about elderly people, some bedridden, who had to put up with the noise.