Residents of Fiddler’s Hamlet, Epping, complained when The Highways Authority stripped out all trees and bushes alongside the M11 motorway (less than half-a-kilometre away from their homes) without prior consultation with said residents.
They complained machines kept them up at night for a week and heavy machinery had churned up the verges and left mess on the road. After residents complained about the noise, they then found out that The Highway Authority had no intention of replacing the large woodland which had provided both a visual barrier and audio buffer between the houses and the motorway.
Further investigation from residents revealed that The Highways Authority had not even notified the council in advance that it was going to happen or they were disturbing rare local wildlife under protection (e.g the great-crested newts and a nearby deer crossing). Needing extra support, Fiddlers Hamlet residents enlisted the assistance of local councillors and conservative MP Eleanor Laing and held a meeting at the local church where Highways Authority were asked to replace the trees, some of which were a maximum of 40 years old. The matter was then referred to by Laing to The Ministry of Transport.
Because The Highways Authority had mismanaged the process by submitting documentations saying there were no trees to be felled or residents to consider, Highways England apologized to the residents for lack of communication and consideration and has agreed to consider both long-term and short-term screening options.
