With regard to the J26 Turckstop on the M25.
I have today learned that the local council are making a decision on this truckstop within the next SEVEN days. They have only just informed us about this.
If you remember, this is the council that thinks that a truckstop cafe and overnight parking is not necessesary in the area as it is already ‘well served’!!
The council will be considering the apllicaion for the truckstop in two seperate forms.
One for the cafe and one for the truck parking area.
What we need is as many positive notices in favour of this truckstop as possible.
The way you can help is:-
Please send an email to the planning officer JILL SHINDLER
on www.eppingforestdc.gov.uk.iPlan
with regard to Application No: EPF/1009/06
explaining why you think this truckstop is invaluable for parking in as much as it reduces the amount of on-road parking in the area and gives truckers a safe place to park and sleep overnight.
Also
Please send a similar email to JILL SHINDLER
on the same email address
with regard to Application No: EPF/1010/06
explaining why there is a need for a truckstop cafe on site.
The only other food available (evenings only) is a burger wagon parked in the bus stop across the road which causes bottleneck problems with parking.
This cafe is the only one locally aimed directly at truckers and is highly regarded by all those of you that use it.
If we dont speak up for ourselves then this is another good old truckstop that will bite the dust so PLEASE act now.
PLEASE send both emails as soon as you can (This scase is to be heard on 19th June) and if possible please send a copy to mothertrucker@hotmail.com and I will print them off and use them in the event that the council mistakenly ‘loses’ those sent by your good selves.
Hope you can all help on this - Thanks.
have just sent via their complaints system ,a e-mail have been given this
ref no-EFDC1241E will also send one to the the person mentioned as well,
do you have a e-mail address that i can put that i can put in a web site here in germany and see if my friends will send their support as well ,we need these parking areas as it has been reported that truckworld in thurrock is also
being considered as a redelopment area and so they wish to close it as well.
second reference no-- PL12417E ALL THE BEST
commented on the plan.
the correct link is HERE
then just click on the make comment and fill in the boxes - don’t forget to copy the reference number from above post by mother trucker.
Thanks Johnny - I have had nightmares with the original link - given to me by the council themselves actually!!
Correcst one found by Johnny below.
eppingforestdc.gov.uk/Counci … /iplan.asp
Brit Pete - please feel free to post this and add your weight to the campaign.
Was wondering if you lot all called Sally Traffic on Radio 2 and told her the prob it could spread the word faster.
Bearing in mind it’s just not this truckstop that we have to fight for, it is all of them. we cant let the councils see that we will just take closure of our facilites lying down.
I think the best we can hope for at this stage is a ‘stay of execution’ for now but if we do manage get that I will be at Shepton Mallet Truckfest at the end of this month so if you have any written amunition that may help come and see me.
MOTHERTRUCKER FORGOT TO TELL YOU ALL SHE WILL BE SITUATED AT THE LADY TRUCKERS STAND NEXT TO THE OUTSIDE BAR. I AM SURE SHE WILL HAVE SOME PROTEST FORMS FOR YOU ALL TO SIGN.
The good news is that the council have received - according to the latest news from their offices - a ‘number’ of letters and emails calling for J26 to be allowed to continue in service.
I am hoping to hear within the next couple of days if the council will now take this to committee level and discuss the mastter fully. This will geve everybody that is involved a chance to actually go there and voice their opinions.
Thanks a bunch guys for all your help so far but PLEASE keep em coming. The more pressure we put on the counil the less they will be ablce to come up with excuses like the truckstop is not required or used.
If we get what we hope for which is a further temporary permit to keep open it will give us more time to put our case more fully and the more pressure from truckers the better it will be.
Thanks again lads - As soon as I hear anyathing I will let you know.
That is news we like hearing as you posted ,people keep sending the e-mails
to the county planners,so that they see there is a need for such areas for TRUCKERS and their vehicles;and that they are near and far between,
I love junction 26 Truckstop, so done it, my ref is: PL12565E
Although i do have just 1 complaint…how about a better handryer in the toilets or even better, some paper towels
Fingers crossed eh!
Paper towels and a better handryer■■? Ok will mention it tomorrow.
Soap in the ladies would be nice too - but some buggers keeps nicking it!!!
Decent food would help too, it might get a few more signatures, And if they shift all them cars to allow trucks to get in the yard. Cafe waitress can afford to run 500 SEL Mercedes and park it WTF she likes
Not impressed after 3 visits
Done my bit. Perhaps the fact that they’re getting responses from all over the UK might help things as it’;ll make them realise how important it is.
I have pointed out that parking around the NE area of the M25 is now so bad that we’re at the point of being forced to park on residential streets.
my comments submitted
( and screen dumps saved into a word document if you want them )
Thank you very much guys for the support so far. I had a mail from the landowner of J26 which reads.
My Architect spoke to Jill Shindler this morning. The cut off date was Monday for local objection, as yet no one has objected. However, the statutory authority’s (Highways,Water,etc) have another week to go. She will make her mind up by next Tuesday whether the application goes to committee; after consulting with her boss. However, there has been an amazing amount of supporting letters sent in from truck drivers and residents, which all help.
If we can get to committee it may be we need further support from Freight transport bodies like Highway Agency, FTA, and drivers unions.
To clarify, the council were asking for objections from the local residents about the truckstop and parking but so far none, it seems, have been forthcoming. Of course the locals prefer the trucks to be parked safely off road and not on the local roads causing problems at night.
Also, if enough drivers write in, then the council are duty bound to put the case in front of a full council meeting to be heard instead of this one person having the final word, which is apparantly what has been happening so far!
all J26 is asking for is a fair ;hearing by the full council.
As a matter of interest - It may also be noted that the burger wagon which parks in the bus stop (bus stop - parked??) has just been granted a further 12 month licence to serve there.
Read into that what you will - no comment from me.
Sorry to hear one of you is dissatisfied with the food - but as they say - you cant please all of the people all of the time and as to the Merc sel 500 - I asked Lisa (the waitress) if it was hers and she said “I wish!” - so that’s that cleared up.
Thanks once again guys for all the support but keep those mails going in to the council. We need to let em know that we drivers have a voice and are not afriad to use it.
I will be at Shepton Mallett Truckfest this next weekend so if any of you are attending the event please come along to the Lady Truckers Club stand and ask for me and I will be delighted to keep you up to speed on developments.
Mothertrucker:
I will be at Shepton Mallett Truckfest this next weekend so if any of you are attending the event please come along to the Lady Truckers Club stand and ask for me and I will be delighted to keep you up to speed on developments.
I’m hoping to get there on Sat, got myself a free ticket , just need a excuse for SWMBO and nobody to want a lorry for Taunton market 
you may want to hassle the highways agency as they seem to be there on a daily basis, they must be aware of the importance of any stopping place in that area, why not get them to point out that the cafe alleviates the chaos on the road outside caused by the snack van across the way.
that south miims is undesireable to drivers travelling anti clockwise on the m25 due to the difficulties negociating all the lanes and traffic signals because they have to travel around it twice to take the a1 and 1.5 times to get back on the m25 anti clockwise, the only other places are, west thurrock which requires a detour from the motorway network and again several sets of lights and lanes to get back to the anti clockwise m25 and clacket lane if anyone is stupid enough to be doing circles of the m25, even toddington is almost an hour from dartford crossing, take a break? yeh right oh - where then?
johnny:
you may want to hassle the highways agency as they seem to be there on a daily basis, they must be aware of the importance of any stopping place in that area, why not get them to point out that the cafe alleviates the chaos on the road outside caused by the snack van across the way.
That’s a good point Johnny, Ive never visited and not seen them in there, sometimes two or three of their vehicles at once.
Wheel Nut:
Decent food would help too…Not impressed after 3 visits
I wasn’t going to reply to this thread with my own experiences of this “truck stop” but as it appears other members have had cause for complaint, I will.
I’ve stopped there on two separate occasions; once about 3 months back when I wasn’t even slightly impressed with the food and the second time was yesterday morning, to see if anything had improved. Sadly it hasn’t.
I ordered a £3.85 breakfast with toast and a pot of tea as I required a 30 minute tacho break, although I was in a rush to get to the other side of Chelmsford before my time was up. Sadly, I was on the verge on cancelling the order just as my breakfast arrived half an hour after ordering it, despite there only being 2 other orders (both breakfasts) on the go. Perhaps if the two females concentrated more on the customers needs instead of spending all their time texting their mates then things might start to improve?
Just like the first time I stopped, the food quality was sub-standard and the bacon has the distinct taste and appearance that it had been cooked last week and reheated for my order. The sausages, egg and beans were okay but the water that comes out of the tomatoes when you sink your knife into them could sink the Titanic.
I also feel the need the make comment about the ignorance of the staff too. Whilst waiting for my change I light-heartedly commented “so are they still trying to shut you down then?” in an attempt to drum up some dialogue about the current situation but I was completely ignored. The young lass with the thick rimmed glasses clearly heard me but just turned her back to me and the other one with the NY cap briefly looked at me then carried on with what she was doing. The same ignorance was apparent when my breakfast was brought over - there was no “there you go, luv” or “sorry for the wait, hope you enjoy it” etc, it was just plonked down on the table in complete silence and not even any acknowledgement when I said “thank you”.
What was most disturbing though were the hygiene issues I noticed whilst eating my breakfast. I clearly observed the young lass pick up the tongs used for transferring the bacon and sausages from the frying surface to the plates, and grab a tissue or piece of kitchen roll, placing it in between the tongs and then proceed to clean the inside of the cooker hood with them 
. The most disturbing part was that after she had deposited the tissue/roll in the bin, she then returned the tongs to the same holder in the corner without even washing them or her hands. Shortly afterwards, the same tongs were used to serve another customer’s breakfast - I couldn’t believe it!
Another hygiene issue I noticed was the young lass regularly wiping her nose with her hand and then carrying on serving food etc without washing her hands.
Despite my observations, I have still sent an email of support of the truck stop to the council because a truck stop here is good for the area and M25 traffic. However, I would like to make it clear that my support is only for the truck stop and cafe premises, not for the people running it. It could be a very good truck stop with the right people running it, but sadly those are not the current occupants.
In closing, I think the people who run the cafe should be more concerned with being shut down by the Environmental Health Authority rather than the local council. Needless to say, that was my second and also last visit to the establishment.
Draw your own conclusions.
RK
That’s Scary, me and Rob K agreeing about something in Public 
I am all for a choice and we do need dedicated truck stops, but we need clean facilities, 24 hour food and drink and at a price truck drivers can afford.
I have been spoilt over the years with continental stops so need something special to comment on in this country.
I am glad that there are one or two comments about the standard of service here that I can mention to the cafe staff.
My only complaint so far has been the length of time I have waited for a meal but I hate waiting for anything so this is no exception!! But I will surely bring their attention to the above post - I always believe that things - whatever they are - will never improve unless legitimate complaints are aired. No point in grumbling and not mentioning your complaints to the right people.
On another note - it seems that loads of you get in there and I havent a clue who you are!! I am usually in there around 10 to 11 am around three times a week and often wonder if any of you guys are there and I just dont know you!
It would be nice to say hello once in a while - you cant miss me. I am the blonde one with the big mouth!!! usually meeting my other half for breakfast - he’s the one with the Sterling Training Truck.
so there you are - you know me now who are you■■?