Wootton Roadworks Farce 'Beggars Belief' (North Bedfordshire Liberal Democrats)

North Bedfordshire Liberal Democrats <bedford@bedfordlibdems.org>

Wootton Roadworks Farce 'Beggars Belief'

July 16, 2008 11:03 AM

Wootton Lib Dem Councillors Judith Cunningham and Tim Hill have described the roadworks chaos on Potters Cross as unacceptable and inexcusable

Residents in Wootton have been left fuming after the County Council's road contractor left road maintenance works unfinished after striking two water mains, one of which continued to spew out water over a week after being burst. The works on Potters Cross remain incomplete despite the legal notice for the works stating that they would be finished by July 7th. The legal notice for the works also stated that the entire road would be resurfaced, when in fact just a few metres have been repaired.

Commenting on the chaos, Liberal Democrat Councillor for Wootton Tim Hill said: "The long-overdue resurfacing of Potters Cross has become an absolute farce. It beggars belief that with no improvement works having been done on the road for over thirty years, nobody thought to check if there were any obstructions such as water mains. For one of the burst mains to then be left unrepaired for over a week is utterly inexcusable.'

"As the different parties squabble over who should take responsibility for mistakes, the interests of local residents seem to be the very last consideration.'

Commenting further, Liberal Democrat Councillor for Wootton Judith Cunningham said: "The delays, disruption and confusion surrounding these works come as a bitter blow to Potters Cross residents, who simply want their road resurfaced after over thirty years of waiting. For them to be told by the County Council that the entire paved road would be resurfaced, only to find out that the contractors are working on just a short stretch is simply unacceptable."

Meanwhile, residents of Bourne End Road, Wootton, were cut off after the County Council's contractors Amey turned up to carry out resurfacing work two weeks in advance of the published date for the works of this week. Even worse for the residents who faced the disruption, only a short stretch of less than 100 metres of the road was resurfaced, in spite of the legal notice for the works stating that 300 metres of the poor quality road would be repaired.

Commenting, Cllr Hill said: "Bourne End Road is a dead end at one end, and for the contractors to simply turn up several weeks before they were due shows a complete disregard for the residents who had to put up with the disruption. The fact that just a fraction of the promised essential works were carried out is the worst part of this sorry tale, however."