Residents living close to the Whistl logistics centre at the Astley warehouse development have described 'horrific' noise from the site as profoundly affecting their lives, during a two-day public inquiry chaired by deputy traffic commissioner John Baker at the Brick Community Stadium in Wigan.
Whistl has applied to the traffic commissioner to house 60 HGVs and 95 trailers at the PLP-operated Astley Business Park in Tyldesley. Many villagers are attempting to block the plans and are urging refusal of the application.
Residents describe impact on daily life
Kelly McCormack, of Daisyfield, east of Whistl, told the inquiry she does not understand how the situation could be allowed to happen. She said: "Currently I'm at home on maternity leave with my seven-month-old daughter. The noise and light pollution at night is horrific. Our home is in the line of sight of the Whistl traffic. It's unbelievable, I can't even pen the window as we hear banging from lorries and accelerating. It's massively impacting me."
McCormack added: "We've lived here four years but we would never have bought if we'd known this was going up. There's not much difference whether it's early morning or afternoon and in the evening it's more profound because it's quieter. From when shovel went in the ground I've not used my garden, now because we're bordering the protective bunds, people can see straight into our home and there's the vehicles fumes. We find ourselves keeping the curtains and blind shut most of the time."
She continued: "Summer's been and gone and I've not been in the garden with my baby. At night I'll be dozing off and I can hear trucks and banging. It's been horrendous since that first shovel in the ground and then Whistl operations starting. I don't understand how this could happen."
Lorry movements counted by residents
David Gerrard, who has lived on Thistlecroft since moving into a new build in 2019 with his wife and three daughters, said the impact is felt throughout the house. He said: "The impact is throughout the house, we don't use the garden like we used to. We used to socialise there with friends in the garden – now I'm embarrassed to have people round. To be honest it now looks like I bough a house in the middle of Trafford Park. I'm finding it difficult, my wife finds it difficult. The lorries illuminate the children's bedrooms."
Gerrard, a bricklayer, described the vehicle activity: "Hazard lights flash amber, brake lights flash red, the lorries dock, they shunt. I'm a bricklayer, I don't know about rucks, but I know what every noise they can make. Some of them have have fog lights on the top, they resemble the Christmas Coca Cola truck. The other day I went into the bedroom at 5.30pm and stayed until 12, I time stamped vehicle movement. Every vans and wagon, there were 113 movements over seven hours. That's one movement every 3.5 minutes and that was just a regular Tuesday evening. How are we meant to live like this? It's ruining our lives."
Operating hours reduced after complaints
Amanda Robinson, who has lived on Withington Drive for nine years and works from home most of the time, told the hearing: "Working 9am to 6pm my job require face to face calls, commercial negotiations, focus and concentration. There is now constant disruption, high pitched beeping and vehicle noise, even worse when windows are open. I cannot have window open at all. I haven't spent as much time enjoying property inside and out because of noise."
She added: "Prior to reduced operating times it was affecting my sleep, I often woke at 4am from the beeping. Since reduced operating times they don't start until 6am."
24-hour operations at unit 2 began by Whistl in July this year under an interim licence. Shortly after, neighbours complained of 'cacophonous' noise, vibration, fumes, visual intrusion and road safety impacts from the round-the-clock operation. After engaging with residents and introducing noise mitigation, Whistl has voluntarily stopped vehicle movements at the site between midnight and 6am as a result of the complaints.
The inquiry has recognised 143 valid objections, many of whom will be represented by the Astley Warehouse Action Group. The second and concluding day of the inquiry is focusing on the objections from residents. Following the conclusion of the hearing, the deputy traffic commissioner said he would attempt to deliver a decision within 28 days.
