Sleep Factory boss denies keeping residents awake at night

The manager of a bed factory has denied he is responsible for keeping residents awake at night.
Objectors say there are already problems with noise and heavy goods vehicles travelling to and from the site, on St Oswald's Place. (Google Maps)Objectors say there are already problems with noise and heavy goods vehicles travelling to and from the site, on St Oswald's Place. (Google Maps)
Objectors say there are already problems with noise and heavy goods vehicles travelling to and from the site, on St Oswald's Place. (Google Maps)

Speaking to a planning committee, the director of Ossett bedding manufacturers The Sleep Factory Ltd, said the company did not take deliveries from HGVs during the early hours of the morning, in response to complaints from his neighbours.

The man, whose name was given only as Mr Khan, has now been given permission by the council to build an extension on the side of the factory, on St Oswald’s Place, to accommodate more stock.

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‘Sleep Factory’ extension could be put to bed as neighbours fear being kept awake at nightBut people living nearby had objected to the plans for fear that it would create extra traffic on the narrow access road and there would be more night-time activity.

Neighbour Paul Jackson told Wakefield Council’s planning committee that an HGV had recently been heard unloading at the site at 3.30am.

He said: “This is unacceptable. We do feel we’re entitled to a bit of privacy at some point.

“As residents, we’ve very little impact on the Sleep Factory, but they have quite a lot of impact on us and the surrounding area.”

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Cafe on lake closes down following row with pubBut in his response Mr Khan disputed the claim, saying: “There is no reason why there should be a big lorry there at that ridiculous time in the morning.

“I don’t believe that did occur and if it did I’d certainly look into it.

“We’ve worked with the neighbours as much as possible and we’re trying to address the concerns they have.”

Mr Khan said the extension was needed because raw materials were building up in the yard outside the factory due to a lack of space.

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He also promised to continue the widening of the access road to the factory to give HGVs more room for manouevre. Residents said that a wall down the side of the road had been “struck three to four times” in the past six months by industrial traffic.

More than 1,500 secondary school starters in Wakefield didn’t achieve SAT standardWest Yorkshire Police had objected to the application, saying that the size of the vehicles and number of journeys along St Oswald’s Place was “detrimental” to people’s safety.

Ossett councillor Nick Farmer supported the residents, and saying: “They have had two to three years – it’s utterly unacceptable.

“Please don’t go against the advice of the police.”

However, highways officers concluded that the extension was unlikely to change the number of journeys being made down the road.

The application was unanimously approved by councillors.

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