West Lane Residents Welcome Summer Piling Pause but Say Campaign Is Far From Over

Residents campaigning against the ongoing driven piling works at Redrow’s West Lane development have welcomed news of a temporary summer pause, but insist their campaign is far from over as they continue to call for a permanent change to the construction method.

The latest developments follow Tuesday’s well-attended community protest, where dozens of residents gathered outside the development with placards to highlight what they say has been 12 weeks of relentless noise, vibrations and disruption to their daily lives.

In what many described as a positive breakthrough, the Redrow site manager and members of the company’s team came out to meet residents during the demonstration. Rather than simply observing the protest, they spent around an hour speaking directly with those affected, answering questions about the development and listening to residents’ concerns. The entire discussion was recorded by residents.

One of the biggest revelations to emerge from those discussions was that the piling programme is understood to be only around 40% complete, meaning approximately 60% of the required piling still remains. Many residents said they had believed the work was much closer to completion.

Following the meeting, Formby Parish Council Chair and lead campaigner Cllr Maria Bennett confirmed she had been informed that piling would continue only long enough to complete the house currently being worked on before the contractor moves across the road to finish piling on another property where work had already begun.

After those properties are completed, the driven piling is expected to pause while meetings take place between Redrow, senior management and Sefton Council to review the concerns raised by residents together with the technical evidence that has been submitted.

Despite that news, piling resumed again at 8am on Friday morning as work continued on the current phase before the planned pause.

A pause is welcome, but residents say it is not the solution

In a statement released today, the West Lane Area Residents Campaign Group said it welcomed Redrow’s decision to temporarily suspend the piling works over the summer, describing it as recognition that the concerns raised by local people had finally been heard.

However, the group says the pause alone does not resolve the issue.

Campaigners say they remain firmly opposed to driven piling returning in the autumn, regardless of whether a larger piling rig is used. They argue that changing the size of the machinery does not change the impact on neighbouring homes, as the hammering method itself continues to generate vibrations and ground-borne shockwaves.

With around 60% of the piling programme still to be completed, residents say they believe now is the ideal opportunity for Redrow to reconsider its construction method before work resumes.

Residents continue to back alternative piling method

The campaign centres around residents’ belief that Continuous Flight Auger (CFA) piling, which drills piles into the ground rather than hammering them, should be used instead of driven piling.

The campaign group says two independent geotechnical reports commissioned by Formby Parish Council concluded that CFA piling was a practical and significantly less disruptive option for the site.

Residents continue to question why driven piling was approved despite those reports and are calling for an independent review of all the technical evidence before any further hammer piling takes place.

Formal complaint escalated

The campaign has also entered a new stage.

Cllr Maria Bennett has now formally submitted a Stage 2 Corporate Complaint to Sefton Council’s Chief Legal Officer on behalf of affected residents.

According to the campaign group, the complaint raises concerns about how the council assessed the technical evidence before the piling method was approved and requests that the council’s response is expedited.

Residents say they intend to pursue the matter further if they remain dissatisfied with the council’s response, including referring the case to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman once the council’s complaints process has concluded.

What residents are asking for:

During the summer pause, the West Lane Area Residents Campaign Group is calling for:

• Redrow to permanently replace driven piling with the quieter Continuous Flight Auger (CFA) piling method.

• Sefton Council to commission an independent review of the geotechnical evidence submitted by both sides.

• Sefton Council’s Environmental Health team to consider appropriate statutory controls should driven piling resume.

Campaigners have stressed throughout that they are not opposed to the construction of new homes. Instead, they say they want the development to proceed using a construction method that minimises unnecessary disruption to neighbouring residents.

Following Tuesday’s protest, many residents said they felt encouraged that meaningful dialogue had finally begun after months of frustration. While welcoming the temporary pause and Redrow’s willingness to meet face to face, they say the campaign will continue until a long-term solution is found.