Kenley CR8, ten minutes out
Kerbside crane loading for CR8 sites, run from a Croydon depot minutes up the valley.
Grab lorry hire in Kenley is a loading and haulage service for CR8 sites, using an eight-wheel grab with an Epsilon crane that reaches up to 7.5 metres from the side of the vehicle. Each lorry carries 20 cubic yards, up to 16 tonnes per job. Prime Waste Services is registered carrier CBDU480663.
Send the site postcode, what is on the ground and when you need it moved. We will come back with a written quotation. There is no charge for a quote and no obligation to book.
Lines are answered by the people who run the lorries, not a call centre. Same-day collection is often possible but always subject to availability.
A Kenley booking begins with a conversation about where the lorry can legally stand. Our grab hire services run from Pear Tree Farm on Featherbed Lane in Croydon, roughly ten minutes from the CR8 valley, so this is a short run rather than half a day of travel. The crane does the lifting from the kerb, which means nothing has to be barrowed down the road to a container.
The operator sets up on the carriageway or a firm verge, extends the arm and lifts material straight off a driveway, garden or dig. Reach is up to 7.5 metres from the side of the vehicle, depending on the vehicle and site conditions. On the plots that policy DM40 of the Croydon Local Plan describes for Kenley and Old Coulsdon, detached houses on relatively large plots with grass verges and mature front garden trees, that reach often decides whether a job can be done from the road at all.
One lorry takes 20 cubic yards and up to 16 tonnes per job, subject to loading and road restrictions. Loading is usually a matter of tens of minutes rather than hours, and same-day collection is often possible but always subject to availability.
Almost everything in Kenley funnels onto the A22 Godstone Road. It forms part of the TfL Road Network, and Croydon’s Borough Transport Strategy identifies it alongside the A23 and A232 as carrying a disproportionate share of the borough’s traffic, naming the A22 junction with Downs Court Road as a congestion hotspot. Heavy vehicle movements through the valley are therefore concentrated on one route, so we plan Kenley loads around it rather than through the worst of it.
The hillside roads are the harder part of the picture. Kenley Lane climbs west towards Kenley Common and is closed at its end, which is why the council’s Connecting Kenley programme proposes no-through-road signage there. Hayes Lane South is proposed for residents-only access, subject to further engagement, and the same programme proposes reducing the Aerodrome Approach speed limit from 40mph to 30mph. Old Lodge Lane carries the parade shops, a Connecting Kenley parklet and a separate council permit zone, so available kerb space there is not something to assume.
Ground conditions decide what comes off site. Kenley sits on the Chalk dip slope of the North Downs, with clay-with-flints soils on the plateau top above the Whyteleafe valley, and nearly 50 metres of Chalk are exposed at Riddlesdown Quarry immediately to the north-east. Spoil from a Kenley excavation is normally flinty clay over chalk rather than the London Clay found in the north of the borough, and it loads heavy and sticky after rain.
Water is the other local factor. Croydon’s Local Flood Risk Management Strategy names the A22 Godstone Road and Kenley Lane with Welcomes Road among flooding locations, because the chalk geology in the south of the borough increases groundwater flooding vulnerability through the valley routes, and it records the Caterham Bourne as the source of significant flood events in 2000 to 2001 and 2014. Around the airfield, the whole Kenley Aerodrome Conservation Area lies within the Metropolitan Green Belt and contains ten Scheduled Ancient Monuments, including the Second World War fighter pens scheduled in September 2004, plus two Grade II listed buildings, the Officers’ Mess and the NAAFI building, so ground disturbance there is tightly controlled.
We load soil, stones, muck, concrete, rubble, hardcore, demolition waste and green waste. On the same visit the lorry can arrive loaded with MOT Type 1, crushed concrete, ballast, sharp sand, building sand, topsoil or shingle, which saves a second vehicle coming up the hill.
Some things cannot go on a standard booking: asbestos, gas bottles, batteries, railway sleepers, mattresses, tyres, fridges, freezers, paint, chemicals and liquids. Flag anything of that kind before the day and we will tell you what route it needs instead.
The practical point for anyone working in CR8 is where trade arisings can legally go. Purley Oaks Reuse and Recycling Centre on Brighton Road, South Croydon CR8 2BG is the nearest household site, but the South London Waste Partnership states that its sites are only open to residents disposing of household waste and that commercial and industrial waste must not be brought to them. Croydon Council’s own site rules add that permits are not issued for vans. A builder clearing a Kenley job cannot tip there, which is why a registered carrier is the practical answer.
In Kenley the choice usually comes down to how long a container can sit on a hillside street and how far material has to travel to reach it.
| Point of comparison | Grab lorry | Skip hire |
|---|---|---|
| Capacity | 20 cubic yards and up to 16 tonnes per job, subject to loading and road restrictions | Fixed skip size, and heavy chalk spoil can reach the weight limit long before the skip looks full |
| Loading | Crane loads from the kerb, up to 7.5 metres from the side of the vehicle | Filled by hand or barrow from wherever the skip happens to be parked |
| Permits | No skip permit, because the lorry does not stay on the highway | A council permit is normally needed for a skip standing on the public highway |
| Access | Suits the A22 valley roads and the narrow lanes climbing towards Kenley Common | Needs a parking space that stays free for the whole hire period |
| Best suited to | Soil, rubble, concrete and flinty chalk arisings cleared in one visit | Slow-filling mixed waste on a plot with spare off-road space |
Volumes and weights vary with material and site conditions, and we confirm what is workable when we quote.
The depot at Pear Tree Farm, Featherbed Lane, Croydon CR0 9AA is about ten minutes from Kenley by car. A loaded eight-wheeler is slower than a car, and a realistic allowance is roughly 15 to 20 per cent on top of a car journey time. Those figures are typical rather than guaranteed.
Kenley sits inside Greater London, so the ULEZ, LEZ and Direct Vision Standard all apply here. Transport for London states that the three schemes operate in the same area across all London boroughs and the City of London, with the LEZ applying to lorries, vans and specialist heavy vehicles over 3.5 tonnes. That is our problem rather than yours, but it is worth knowing if you are comparing quotes from hauliers based further out in Surrey.
Grab lorry hire in Kenley is only as good as the paperwork behind it. Waste from your site remains your responsibility under duty of care until it is handed to someone entitled to take it. Prime Waste Services Ltd is registered waste carrier CBDU480663, company number 14793814, trading since April 2023, and holds operator licence OK2066087 with four vehicles authorised at the Croydon operating centre.
Our operatives are CPCS compliant and CSCS registered, the company is fully insured, and the Epsilon cranes are inspected on a regular schedule. You get a transfer note for the load, which is the document that matters if anyone ever asks where a Kenley dig ended up.
“Very efficient, and customer service was second to none, would definitely use this company again in the future.” — Barry Turner
No permit is needed for the lorry itself, because it loads and leaves rather than standing on the road for days. A skip on the public highway normally does need a council permit. What matters more in Kenley is kerb space, particularly on Old Lodge Lane, which has its own council permit zone, and on the narrower hillside roads where parked cars leave little room for an eight-wheeler to set up safely.
Often, but not always. Crane reach is up to 7.5 metres from the side of the vehicle, depending on the vehicle and site conditions, so a front garden or a driveway is usually straightforward while a rear garden behind a detached house on a large plot may not be. Many Kenley plots are wide and set back, so send a photograph of the frontage and we will tell you honestly.
Usually flinty clay over chalk. Kenley sits on the Chalk dip slope of the North Downs with clay-with-flints soils on the plateau top, and nearly 50 metres of Chalk are exposed at nearby Riddlesdown Quarry. That is different from the London Clay found further north in Croydon, and it matters for weight, because wet chalky clay reaches the 16 tonne limit sooner than a lighter mixed load.
No. Purley Oaks Reuse and Recycling Centre on Brighton Road, South Croydon CR8 2BG takes household waste from Croydon residents only. The South London Waste Partnership states that commercial and industrial waste must not be brought to its sites, and Croydon Council’s rules state that permits are not issued for vans. Trade arisings from a Kenley job need a registered carrier instead.
Sometimes. Same-day collection is often possible but always subject to availability, so give us as much notice as you can. Booking ahead helps most where access is tight, because we can plan the setup position before the lorry arrives rather than working it out on a busy stretch of the A22 Godstone Road. Aggregate deliveries can usually be combined with a collection on the same visit.
Sources and further reading
Call 07778 541120 with your postcode and a photograph of the frontage, and we will confirm what the crane can reach.
