RESIDENTS living near Slag Lane in Westbury have complained that work to fix the large cracks that have appeared in the road near the Frogmore Road junction, have dragged on for two and a half years – with no end in sight.
The issue, caused by subsidence, was first reported in February 2021 and despite investigations taking place by engineers, the problem has not yet been resolved.
Traffic cones were initially temporarily put down in the area to warn motorists, but they have remained there since, which residents have called a “dangerous inconvenience” as buses, HGVs and motorists often have to swerve into the middle of road to avoid them.
Wiltshire Council is due to adopt the road from the developer, but as it has not been signed off yet, the responsibility to fix the subsidence as well as highway safety concerns lies with the developer, David Wilson Homes. David Wilson Homes has now said they have submitted a second works proposal to fix the issue following their first plan being rejected by Wiltshire Council, and are hopeful that this will be accepted.
They say they have replaced the traffic cones and will inform residents when the work will begin, if approved by Wiltshire Council. The inspection works that have been carried out have not found a conclusive reason for the subsidence.
Slag Lane resident, Jean Darling, says the issue has been made worse by heavy traffic in the area and that she and her neighbours often have to pick up the cones that are driven over by vehicles.
She said, “The road carries more traffic than it is designed for. All the buses use Slag Lane as they can’t use the railway bridge because of the weight limit. This, along with all the traffic from the new estates that use Frogmore Lane as a cut through to the trading estates, has caused this subsidence.
“What makes matters worse is the lack of movement on the issue; they’ve added cones around the area, but these often get knocked over by traffic and are hard to see at night. It’s a dangerous inconvenience to residents when trying to reverse on to their drives and it is always the residents that have to put the cones back in the right places when they get smashed into.
“We feel like the developer has either forgotten about us or simply just doesn’t care. It might not seem like a huge issue but if you see how fast the cars come down this road, you’ll realise these that when they swerve around these cones it’s an accident waiting to happen – let alone when buses and large goods vehicles try to come down here.”
Wiltshire councillor and Westbury resident, cllr Carole King, says that she first reported the subsidence issue to Wiltshire Council in the previous year, in June 2020, but the developer said that it wasn’t a serious enough issue to be considered at the time.
The cracks had got significantly worse in January 2021 and so the developer and a highways engineer from Wiltshire Council looked at drawing up a structural repair plan, to be considered by the council.
Following a series of investigation works, a full excavation of the subsided area and an inspection of the drainage channel was undertaken in September 2021. It was hoped that with a topographical survey undertaken, alongside the ground investigations, that the issues needing to be dealt with would be known and understood.
However, this did not happen as when trying to open the manhole cover, they discovered a large concrete slab covering the chamber, which took up ¾ of the whole road.
In February 2022, the developers’ first proposal was found to be not acceptable by Wiltshire Council. Following this, the agreed plans were to investigate the origin and content of water in the old bury chamber and to replace the ‘beanie blocks’ on the edge of the road near the lake. No conclusive reasons were found for the subsidence.
Cllr King said, “The responsibility of this road remains with the developer as Wilshire Council has not yet signed off the 106 agreements as far as the road goes. This is in effect a snagging issue which the developer has yet to resolve. We still don’t have a date for the much-needed works to sort this road. I have to ask, what on earth is holding this up?!
“Both Wiltshire Council officers and myself have felt in the middle, between the quite rightly unhappy residents and the developer and their partners, without being in control. Surely there’s a better way for developers to cooperate with the local authority in dealing with issues that arise during the building of an estate and subsequent snagging. Our residents deserve better!”
A spokesperson for David Wilson Homes South West said, “We thank residents for their patience and are sorry for any inconvenience that has been caused with the subsidence issue. We have submitted a works proposal to Wiltshire Council and if approved, we will let residents know that work will begin as quickly as possible.
“Until it is fixed though, we must maintain traffic management measures to ensure that travel on Slag Lane is safe. Our contractors have replaced the traffic cones and we will continue to monitor the situation to ensure it is safe going forward.”
