Lorries in Lavenham

High Street, Lavenham

The presence of heavy goods vehicles in our historic villages and towns seem to be an unsolveable problem.

I was recently contacted by a Lavenham resident who had taken photographs of a huge juggernaut making its way along the High Street.  I forwarded this to Trading Standards, in the belief that it was probably not making deliveries locally and was therefore not authorised to be there.     Unfortunately because it was a foreign owned vehicle there was nothing that could be done.   

A few days later the same resident was successful in contacting the owners of three other large trucks that were in much the same position. On this occasion the vehicles were from one company, and the resident in question was able to elicit an apology from the proprietor of the firm concerned.  This is probably a good result because it is the experience of Trading Standards that repeat offences of this type are rare.

The issue of lorries in Lavenham, and indeed Bildeson and other village and town centres, is a great concern to many.  It is not just the risk to pedestrians and threat to parked cars, but also to the fabric of ancient buildings.  However, it is a difficult issue to resolve on account of the lack of infrastructure in Suffolk and the need for goods to flow freely and life in general to go on.  There are no easy answers really.  Were funding to be available, which it is not, would residents really want much improved trunk roads in South Suffolk, bearing in mind  the additional development and environmental damage that these would bring to the County?  I have my doubts.

I am however thinking of contacting Vicky Ford, our East of England MEP, who is regularly seen in Suffolk, to see if anything can be done to identify and sanction these non UK based juggernauts who often blame their sat navs for being in the wrong place.   The EU loves bureaucracy;  perhaps a pan European register might be possible?