AN OFFICIAL decision has been finalised over the proposed relocation of a haulage yard after hours of debate and a raft of formal objections.

An emotionally-charged public inquiry held in May saw Hurworth Moor residents rally against Stockton-based hauliers, N Calvert & Son Ltd., after a controversial plan was submitted to move the business to Darlington.

Residents claimed the move would “shatter the tranquillity of their little world” on the outskirts of the town, off Burma Road.

The operation’s new home would also have brought four vehicles and ten trailers along with it.

The North-East of England’s Traffic Commissioner, Kevin Rooney, was drafted in to preside over a four-hour inquiry in May, which saw 25 residents oppose Nigel Calvert’s plans to bring his business to Darlington.

And after weeks of deliberation, Mr Rooney decided to refuse the application to protect the safety of road users.

Solicitor Simon Catterall represented residents attending the public inquiry and he stated that homeowners would suffer if articulated lorries and 45ft flat-bed trailers were regularly moving outside their homes.

Speaking at the inquiry, Mr Catterall said: “It would shatter the tranquillity of their little world that they’ve worked so hard for and they would like to see this application rooted out.”

But the Commissioner eventually blocked the application on the grounds that the single entrance to N Calvert & Son Ltd.’s new home would be too narrow to allow HGVs and cars to pass safely.

In a report prepared by Mr Rooney, he said: “Should the driver meet something coming in the other direction, and it fail to or be unable to give way, the driver is faced with a lengthy and tricky reversing manoeuvre along a narrow lane…

“There are no designated passing places. Those areas that are used as passing places would be suitable for a car to pull into but not an articulated vehicle.

“An articulated vehicle can be, and Mr Calvert’s vehicles are, 2.55m wide. It is therefore impossible for a car to pass a truck anywhere on that road without using the ‘unofficial’ passing points.”

Haulage boss Mr Calvert had offered to amend his plans to meet conditions imposed by the Commissioner.

But in his report, Mr Rooney said: “I therefore find that this application generates an unacceptably high risk to road safety due to the width of the privately maintained access road and the poor visibility coupled with the width of the junction of the private access road with the publicly maintained road.”