Supporting the Resilient Residents of Howbury Street

You may have heard through the local media of the problems which arose as the Council was resurfacing Howbury Street in Castle last week. As the crew undertook the resurfacing as part of the extended works taking place to improve our roads across the Borough, it was discovered that there are several large 'voids' under the road surface. This was obviously a real shock to the team resurfacing the road and, of course, to Howbury Street residents. It looks as though the problem is linked to collapsed and damaged sewers. Investigations are ongoing alongside Anglian Water, but the main concern at the moment is for the residents who have been severely inconvenienced by this. I went door-to-door on Howbury Street at the weekend, making sure the Council was doing enough to help people go about their day-to-day lives while the road is closed off to vehicles 24 hours a day.

The residents were grateful for the visit, which is obviously the least I could do to show that the Council was supporting them, and I was incredibly impressed by the resilience of those I spoke to. There was a recognition that this is obviously a freak discovery that no-one could have known about previously, and people generally had a positive attitude about managing while the repair works continue and the road closure remains in place. The Council is doing what it can to support residents, with special refuse collections and temporary parking permits provided, for example, and although there will obviously be a significant delay caused by the discovery of the voids, the works themselves are ongoing and will be completed as soon as possible.

Deputy Mayor and Environment and Transport Portfolio Holder Cllr Charles Royden recorded this interview with the Times and Citizen on site in Howbury Street this week: http://www.bedfordtoday.co.uk/news/local/surprise_hole_under_control_1_2392230