REDBOURN residents are claiming victory after a St Albans haulage company dropped its appeal against an enforcement notice it received for allegedly carrying out unauthorised concrete crushing.

St Albans district councillors for Redbourn Tony Swendell and Maxine Crawley welcomed a decision by Kane Haulage to abandon the appeal ahead of this month’s public hearing.

The Planning Inspectorate was to hold a hearing in Redbourn from January 31 to consider the appeal.

Village residents organised a petition after they suffered from concrete-crushing noise at the firm’s site in Old Station Yard.

Crushing machinery was removed from the yard on June 16 last year, the same day that Herts county council served an enforcement notice on both the haulier and land owners, London and Cambridge Property Services, to cease the activity and remove all associated waste.

In a later statement the council alleged that the concrete crushing was unauthorised.

Cllr Crawley said she was pleased the haulier’s appeal against the notice had been dropped as it would save taxpayers money in legal costs.

She added: “I’m hopeful it means Kane has acknowledged there is a problem and wants to work with us to resolve it.”

Cllr Swendell said: “As a councillor I’m very pleased Kane has withdrawn its appeal, but I’m also pleased for the local community, which has banded together to put the complaint in.”

But both councillors admitted that their relief over the withdrawal had been “dampened” by recent revelations that Kane was pursuing an appeal against a noise abatement notice.

St Albans district council served the notice on November 17 last year following further complaints from Redbourn residents.

Cllrs Swendell and Crawley are awaiting further details of that appeal.

n Kane has lodged an appeal against the district council’s refusal to give retrospective planning permission for 2.4m high fences and 7m high lamp standards and use of its site in Porters Wood for a fuel tank, shed and overnight parking of heavy goods vehicles.

The firm’s grounds of appeal state that the economic benefits of its application should be taken into consideration, to allow the expansion of a “valuable local business”.