Residents fearing bus depot expansion plans

Richard Evans Local Democracy Reporter

Plans to expand a coach depot have been recommended for approval – despite objections from residents and the community council over potential noise and the impact on the surrounding landscape.

Denbighshire-based Keane’s Coaches has applied for permission to use Burley Hill Garage, near Eryrys, as a coach depot with maintenance facilities, allowing up to 10 buses and coaches to be parked, serviced, and valeted at the site.

The company currently has permission for three coaches.

As part of the proposals, the applicants have requested they be able to enter and leave the site 24 hours a day as they often provide rail replacement services, which can be needed at any time of day or night.

The applicant says there will be no “wet washing” of buses at the site.

The council, though, has received several letters of objection from residents, raising “noise and disturbance from the bus engines”, highway concerns, and fears that fumes from vehicles would be “harmful to the horses kept on the adjacent site”.

Llanarmon Yn Ial Community Council also objects to the plans, citing nearby lanes being too narrow and drainage problems, and has concerns about the current operating hours not being adhered to.

The site has been tied to strict operating rules since it first got the green light back in 1994.

Originally, the depot was only allowed to open from 8am to 6pm on weekdays and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays, with a total ban on Sundays and bank holidays.

The rules were later changed to let staff do repair and maintenance work inside the main building 24 hours a day.

However, the company still isn’t allowed to drive coaches in or out of the building outside of those original daytime hours.

But a planning report states that the results of “the noise assessment show that vehicle noise would be unlikely to have an unacceptable impact upon the residential amenity of neighbouring properties”.

The papers go on to say “that a condition restricting the hours that vehicles can enter and leave the ‘bus yard’ is not necessary”, adding “should a noise problem arise, then there is statutory noise legislation which can be used to address the matter”.

The plans will be debated at Denbighshire County Council’s planning committee on Wednesday, 9 July, at the authority’s Ruthin County Hall HQ.