Residents concern over Durham Tees Valley Airport expansion
11.04.08
Residents are concerned that plans for a £110m business park to be built near Durham Tees Valley Airport, with the capacity to create at least 3500 jobs, could overload already congested roads in the area, the Northern Echo reports
Last month, Durham Tees Valley Airport announced plans for the Skylink International Business Park, which will be built on 250 acres of brownfield land and be used for airport businesses and freight companies.
Outline planning permission for the land was granted in 1999 following a public inquiry, but detailed plans for the development, which include a new roundabout and access road onto the A67 near the Darlington-Stockton railway line bridge, still require further approval from councillors, but are expected to get the go-ahead.
However, residents in nearby Eaglescliffe point out that decisions on two planning applications are pending for developments that, along with the business park, could affect already congested adjoining roads. At nearby Allens West, on the site of a former Ministry of Defence depot, there are plans for a mixed development, including 500 homes. On land off Urlay Nook Road, in Eaglescliffe, an application has been lodged with Stockton Borough Council to build a storage warehouse and related parking.
One resident told the newspaper that his biggest worry was the overall impact on Durham Lane, which links the A66 and the A67 at Eaglescliffe. He said: ‘The traffic on Durham Lane is often backed up bumper-to-bumper on weekday mornings and evenings and also on Friday afternoons. This is now - before these developments. We are already gridlocked on a work day.’
Durham Tees Valley Airport say the scheme, which includes a bridge and sliproads to make it easier to join and exit the A66, will encourage more traffic to use the A66 and help people to travel away from the airport more easily.
Councillor Bob Cook, Stockton council's cabinet member for regeneration and transport, said: ‘The proposals for the site and traffic implications of it have been looked at extensively by the developer's consultants, and we have accepted that the proposals will not increase the traffic hazard on nearby roads.’
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