News

Cranleigh Freight Services may face an uphill struggle over its expansion plans after the local council objected to an application to increase the number of trucks it runs to 100. The Surrey-based operator, currently celebrating its 30th year in business, deliberately relocated to its Dunsfold Park site in 2005 to facilitate its future growth. But these plans could now lie in tatters after Surrey County Council (SCC) and Waverley Borough Council  objected to the licence increase.

Cranleigh Freight Services, one of the largest employers in the area, runs 70 vehicles and 70 trailers. The company says the application for an additional 30 vehicles is "to give headroom to the existing operations, following the integration of an out-base operation from Aldershot into the Dunsfold HQ." It says SCC's objection is based on access issues to the site. It adds: "It is noteworthy that the site has two entrances and is a fully operational aerodrome which operates 24/7, 365 days a year, and has no limitations on it - which of course was one of the main reasons we chose to relocate here in 2005 from our previous site some two miles away."

Waverley Borough Council says it will continue objecting to the application. A spokesman says: "Waverley is very concerned about the level of noise the additional lorries will make and the disturbance this will inevitably cause to residents in the area. Waverley also feels the access road  is inadequate for so many heavy goods vehicles. "Both these issues need to be addressed but, at the very least, the Traffic Commissioner should limit the hours that vehicles use to access the site to exclude night times."