Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

‘These streets were built for horse and cart – not HGVs’: Johnshaven resident’s house hit SIX times in a year by trucks

Don Marr at the Seaview Terrace troublespot in Johnshaven. Pic: Kenny Smith/ DCT Media
Don Marr at the Seaview Terrace troublespot in Johnshaven. Pic: Kenny Smith/ DCT Media

Fed-up residents in a Mearns coastal village say they have reached the end of their tether over trucks hitting their homes trying to negotiate the community’s narrow streets.

Seaview Terrace in Johnshaven is one of the trouble hotspots in the picturesque village between Montrose and Inverbervie.

Local Don Marr lives in the C-listed Old Schoolhouse there, part of which was hit six times in 2020 alone.

Don returned from holiday last week to find an HGV had dislodged another part of a garage wall.

Don Marr with a large chunk of stone dislodged by a lorry which reversed into the garage wall. Pic: Kenny Smith/ DCT Media

Sat Nav

“It’s beyond a joke,” said the 82-year-old.

He and neighbour Paul Cutsforth, 75, live opposite each other on a tight corner of Seaview Terrace and say stuck HGVs and jammed-in vans are a regular occurrence.

“The streets of Johnshaven were built for horse and cart, not the big vans and trucks we have today,” said Don.

“They all follow the sat nav if they are coming down to Seaview Terrace.

“But by the time they get down here it’s too late when they realise how narrow it is.

“The garage up on the corner has been reversed into numerous times and I came back last week to discover the latest damage.

“At our corner, the roof of the house also juts out and the guttering has been clipped so many times.

“We sit in our house and we just know that if we hear a lorry there could be trouble,” said Don.

The garage wall bears the signs of regular incidents. Pic: Kenny Smith/ DCT Media

“They even brought a new council refuse wagon down and I told them that they wouldn’t get it around, but they gave it a go – and got stuck!”

Online shopping

He added: “With the pandemic a lot more people are shopping online.

“We are seeing delivery lorries and supermarket vans all coming down and getting into trouble.

“You can see them cursing when they realise they have followed the directions on the screen and are well and truly stuck.”

“With the pandemic a lot more people are shopping online.

“We are seeing delivery lorries and supermarket vans all the time.”

Paul moved to the village around three years’ ago and has put up his own additional protection to try and prevent damage to the corner of his property.

His garage roof is also regularly clipped by big vehicles trying to squeeze through the narrow gap.

Large vehicles regularly get stuck negotiating the tight corner. Pic: Kenny Smith/ DCT Media

Signs

Don added: “This has been going on for years and we have been back and forth to the council.

“But they are just not interested and say there are ample signs to warn lorry drivers.

“There is a sign at the top of the road, but it’s been hit so often we have to keep the ladder handy to climb back up and turn it around the right way.”

Aberdeenshire Council say they have looked at the area and consider there is “adequate signage” to deter HGVs.

A spokesperson said: “Signage is in place at both ends of Seaview Terrace in Johnshaven to advise that the road is unsuitable for HGVs.

“We would urge all HGV drivers to be cautious on narrow roads and follow local traffic regulations.”