Mum voices fears for children in Eye as heavy construction lorries pour through village
A mother has voiced fears for the safety of her children because of the number of huge construction lorries using Eye village’s roads.
Mum Katie Berry said that she had to quickly drag her two children, aged four and six, out of the way of a reversing lorry trying to get into the Allison Homes construction site, which is close to her home and the primary school.
She is one of a number of villagers in Eye who say drivers of huge delivery lorries, many with trailers, are not keeping to planning conditions that are meant to prohibit them from coming into the village and also keep them away from the village school.
Mrs Berry said: “We were trying to get to school and I could see the lorry trying to get into the construction site.
"It started to reverse and I had to grab my children and pull them out of the way as the lorry got closer.
She said: “We are living in fear that one day a child will be badly hurt or even worse.”
Villagers are angry because they say a planning permission that allows Allison Homes to build 265 houses at Colliers Rest just off Eyebury Road contains conditions that prevent delivery lorries using village roads to get to and from the site.
A separate route that keeps the construction traffic out of the village has been signposted.
In addition, there is an embargo set out that stops lorry movements near Eye C of E Primary School between 8am and 9am and 3pm and 3pm each day. This is because the school sits just outside the village limits.
Mrs Berry said: “There have been a number of near misses.
"Sometimes the lorries and their trailers are just too big to get through the entrance to the construction site.
"This has been going on since work started in June.
"All we want is for them to abide by the rules that they have been given.”
Eye resident Dale McKean, who has lived in Eye for more than 40 years, said: “For four months now since the work started on the Allison Homes site, and which is likely to go on for another year or two, we have continually having construction traffic of large HGV lorries and heavy loads coming along Eyebury Road and past our primary school.
"There is a planning condition that states such vehicles should not go along Eyebury Road and they have been ignoring this planning condition many times each week over the last four months.
“But I can’t get the council to take enforcement action to ensure the rules are obeyed.”
Mr McKean added: “It seems they’ve put a condition in the plan which according to them now they cannot enforce.
"You cannot make this up.”
Both Peterborough City Council and Allison Homes have been approached for a response.