Kane Haulage accused of carrying out “unauthorised concrete crushing” in Redbourn

ACTION has been authorised by the county council in a bid to reduce noise from a demolition yard run by a St Albans haulage company.

It will be serving an enforcement notice on both Kane Haulage, which is crushing concrete at The Old Station Yard in Redbourn, and the site’s owners, London and Cambridge Property Services.

Hertfordshire county council has also threatened further legal action should both parties refuse to comply with the notice to stop the activity on the site and remove all associated waste.

A council spokesman said: “Kane Haulage has been carrying out unauthorised concrete crushing without planning permission on land owned by London and Cambridge Property Services.”

Meanwhile, St Albans district council is considering serving a noise abatement notice on Kane following a petition lodged earlier this year by Redbourn residents fed up with having their lives, “completely disturbed and disrupted by noise from activities carried out at the site by the Kane Group.”

Petitioners said they noticed late last year that the intrusive noise of waste being crushed was travelling unimpeded across residential areas and the Ver Valley.

They called on the county council to ascertain whether Kane had been granted permission to, “perform this noisy industrial processing activity at this site which is so close to a residential area.”

A spokeswoman for the district council said that following complaints about noise, environmental health officers were compiling evidence from residents on which they would decide whether to take enforcement action should the noise nuisance persist.

She added: “Noise will be monitored during the week as well as over the weekends.

“If there is sufficient evidence, the council will serve a noise abatement notice.”

The efforts of both councils have been welcomed by Redbourn councillor Maxine Crawley and chairman of the Redbourn parish council, Cllr David Fenton, who attended a public meeting on the issue last Tuesday.

Cllr Fenton said: “I think it’s good news about the enforcement notice because at the moment the noise emanating from Kane Haulage is unacceptable.”

Cllr Crawley said about 50 people attended the meeting, and that residents also complained about dust from the site.

Kane Group managing director Andy Kane was unavailable for comment this week.

n The district council has knocked back a request from Kane for retrospective approval to park heavy goods vehicles overnight at its site in Porters Wood, St Albans.

The application was refused as the activity would lead to a, “significant detrimental impact on the quality of living” of nearby residents.

The council also refused Kane’s retrospective planning application for a 2.4m-high fence and gate and six 7m-high lamp standards, also in Porters Wood, as vehicles using the site would stop on the public highway, causing a “dangerous obstruction” and impact on pedestrian and vehicle safety.