KEYNSHAM firm 4Concrete has been refused permission to make its trial extended hours permanent.
Bath & North East Somerset Council allowed the company to start weekday operations at 6.30am instead of 7.30am and finish at 6.30pm instead of 5.30pm for 12 months, to see if acoustic barriers were effective in reducing the noise.
The trial at the site at Old Station Yard, Avon Mill Lane, ended in August 2024, after which the firm asked the council for permission to keep the longer hours in place.
But the council has refused after complaints from nearby residents.
One neighbour said: “As the closest residents to the site, we confirm that early morning noise exceeding the limits was a frequent occurrence and consistent throughout the trial period from August 2023 to August 2024.”
Agents for 4Concrete told B&NES council that the extended hours were “vital to the function of the business and its continued operation.”
And a council environmental protection officer said that “In the absence of evidence at present to demonstrate a breach of the limits relevant to the extended hours” they were unable to object.
But the council planning report said: “A number of objections have been received from local residents, regarding noise and disturbance experienced during the temporary permission period.
“In the early morning hours, objections raise issues of raised voices and vehicle engine noises of staff arriving prior to the start time, and noise from mixing operations, including the sound of aggregate and cement churning in the drum, and bangs and high pitched noises which disturb sleep.”
It added: “Just because a complaint has not been verified as a statutory nuisance, does not mean that harm is not being experienced, nor that breaches have not occurred.
“Considerable weight must be given to the lived experience of those residents who are most impacted by the development and the account from neighbours is one of frequent disturbance from industrial noise.”
“Given discrepancies between acoustic report findings, disturbance reported by neighbours, reliance on modes of operation, and a site management plan which does not cover all activities, officers are not confident that the conditioned noise limits are or can be consistently met.”
Objecting residents had the backing of Keynsham Town Council.
Councillor Andy Wait, B&NES councillor for Keynsham, said in August last year: “4Concrete have not kept to these extended hours, preferring to continue as before by ignoring their planning conditions and working outside even these extended hours.
“Although, I’m sure, they will continue to break their own planning restrictions, no company should benefit by continuing to disturb their close residential neighbours by their anti-social behaviour, selfishly working noisily outside agreed working hours.”
The Voice approached 4Concrete for a reaction to the decision but received no response.
Concrete firm refused permission over extended hours
