Many Milford residents will be wondering what the eerie whining sound coming from the Milford Mills site during weekdays is.
The reason is that the builders Wavensmere have over 100 piles to drill for foundations. For these they drill down approx 13 metres/42ft deep and as they extract the drill bit, they fill it with concrete which they pump from the onsite concrete mixer, then insert reinforcement to make the pile. The worst of the noise is when they are concrete pumping and the eerie background whine is from the motor that drives the drill head. The works are planned to last until mid June. We should probably grateful that they chose this option and not the more usual percussion piling, which would have been much more intrusive. This was used for the new treatment centre at Babbington Hospital recently for example, and the repeating thumping sound could be heard right down the valley.
The whole site will be busier when they have piled as they will then start building at the southern end of the site. The first houses should be ready for occupation in autumn 2026, with the house whole site completed by Q3 2027. See here from the Wavensmere website for more information, including an artists impression video of the completed development.
