In the past few months, heritage buildings in Sudbury, Clare and Lavenham have been struck and damaged by a container lorries attempting to negotiate tight bends.
Business owners and residents have been left frustrated by the frequency of incidents which they claim are caused by drivers choosing unsuitable routes suggested by satellite navigation devices. They have called for better signage and in some cases for strategic lorry routes to be changed.
South Suffolk MP James Cartlidge gave a speech in the House of Commons about the issue last week as part of debate on GPS and heavy goods vehicles.
He mentioned the recent “major incident” in Sudbury where a huge lorry took a chunk out of the wooden façade over the door of the Nanook shop on the corner of Station Road. He also read out letters from constituents in Lavenham where he claimed the “great and ancient heritage” was being threatened by HGVs.
Tony Ranzetta, whose Water Street home dates back to the 15th century and provided a backdrop for the Harry Potter films, said: “The wider issue of the risk to our heritage across the county and the opportunity to use this current issue and the incident in Sudbury as the spur should only be grasped if it leads to the establishment of a county wide approach to diverting heavy goods traffic from ‘heritage’ villages and towns.” Another Lavenham resident, Simonetta Stonehouse, wrote to Mr Cartlidge expressing her concerns about safety. She said: “HGVs travelling through Lavenham High Street mount the pavement outside our house then negotiate the left turning into Water Street.
“Houses on Water Street are regularly damaged and not so long ago a car was written off by a six-axle 44-tonne vehicle. It is not only the damage that these vehicles are doing to our medieval village but also the issue of safety to the residents and tourists.”
In his speech, Mr Cartlidge said: “I was recently in Lavenham and witnessed an HGV of extraordinary proportions attempting to go down Water Street, which is very narrow although unfortunately technically an A road, which is part of the problem.
“The houses on it are beautiful and ancient. Lorries are scraping past them and tearing them to pieces, and it is incredibly sad to see. That is the heritage of the constituency that I represent, and I have come here to stand up for it and to find a way to protect it.”
He also described the Friars Street incident adding: “The incident occurred right next to the site of a major fire last summer, which was probably the biggest incident in my constituency since I was elected. It is demoralising for the town, and people want action to be taken.”
Published in the EADT.