Noisy grain silos set to cause more hell for Inkpen residents
INKPEN residents say that they are set to face another summer of “hell” after a farmer was permitted to carry on using two noisy grain silos that run 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week.Last Wednesday fed-up residents appealed to councillors on West Berkshire Council’s western area planning committee to refuse retrospective planning permission to allow the silos to run.
However the council said that farmer Paul Clarke would be allowed to use them again this summer, within limited hours.
The two grain silos were installed last year at Lower Spray Farm, in Ham Spray. The farm is isolated farm, but those living many miles away have complained that they were unable to sleep because of the noise.
Inkpen villager Steven Oliver spoke at the meeting on behalf of several of those affected, many of whom were in attendance.
“You can’t open your window, it’s impossible to sleep. Gardens have become no-go zones. We’ve had unbearable sleepless nights,” he said, adding that the silos run 24-hours a day and were “extremely intrusive”.
Another villager, Judith Stock, said that the noise started last July. At first they thought it was caused by helicopters and tried to ignore it, but it continued for at least four more months.
According to parish council document, more than 12 per cent of the population of Inkpen objected to the silos, and Mr Oliver read extracts from several of the 27 letters of complaint, including one letter from Richard Weeks, who lives in Puddlewharf Weavers Lane, which said: “Although it is about a mile away it sounds like a combine harvester in the next field, or a low-flying helicopter a bit further away.
“We have those, but combines run close by for a few days at most and the helicopters come and go. This machine has caused a great nuisance during the summer and autumn of last year, when it was running day and night for many weeks.”
Inkpen parish council chairman, Dr David Thomas, said: “The applicant does not mean to cause harm, but that is exactly what this is doing. There is likely to be a human rights Infringement and Inkpen Parish Council is vehemently opposed to it. It’s totally unacceptable, and is affecting business in the area.”
The application for retrospective planning permission was granted, however, with the stipulation that the machines were operated between the hours of 7am and 11pm on weekdays, and between 8.30am and 11pm on weekends, which angered some of those in the public gallery.
Environmental Health, which had been consulted throughout the application process, said that it was satisfied that there would be no noise pollution or harm to residents if the machines were operated within the time limits.
The farmer Paul Clarke apologised profusely for the disruption and said that he had been badly advised.
He said that he would pay £25,000 to soundproof the silos and a sum towards painting the gas canisters that were also part of the application.
“I am also sorry that it was put up without planning permission, that was wrong and I apologise for that. I can live within the operating times,” he said.
