TLT Solicitors - Industrial Development - Swindon, Hawksworth Depot

Date: 29 Oct 2002

Construction materials company Hanson Aggregates is celebrating after winning the right to build a depot in Swindon to enable it to transport stone direct to the town by rail. At a planning inquiry held last month, Katherine Evans, a planning expert at top 100 law firm TLT Solicitors, successfully argued the benefits of this method of transport which is favoured by the government and environmentalists alike.

The government strongly encourages rail freight as part of their plans to reduce road congestion and air pollution, and the Strategic Rail Authority had recently awarded a substantial grant to Hanson to encourage the company to use rail.

Hanson spokesman David Weeks said: “We are delighted to have been awarded a 15-year planning consent to develop a rail depot in the heart of the town. It will save thousands of lorry journeys and contribute greatly to the development of the town centre.”

When completed, the depot will receive 5 trains a week carrying crushed rock from Hanson’s rail-linked quarries in South Gloucestershire and Somerset. The material will be off-loaded into stockpiles and collected by lorries to serve local construction markets in and around Swindon. The town centre regeneration will absorb a considerable amount of the stone.

Up to 34 lorries a day will use the site, but no traffic will travel through residential areas. At present, all construction materials used in Swindon arrives by road. Full noise, dust and traffic surveys were submitted with the application and were accepted by the council.

Hawksworth depot was developed for rail use as the central stores for the Great Western Railway over 100 years ago. It has been unused since 1996 and is now derelict. The site is bounded on one side by the main railway line, on one by the back of the National Monument Office and on the other 2 by the Hawksworth industrial estate. There are no residential properties nearby.

Hanson already operates a network of rail linked depots serving the M4 corridor, London and the South East.

Katherine Evans added, "I'm delighted that we have attained this positive decision for Hanson."

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