A WESTBURY town councillor says he is “outraged” over the handling of an estate by a developer and is calling for work to be done to fix the state of the roads.
Cllr Gordon King is appealing for the developer, Backhouse Housing, to fix the roads in the estate at Callaway Gardens following issues surrounding raised manholes covers and drains, potholes and broken road surfaces, which is causing damage to residents’ vehicles.
The issue was brought up at a meeting of Westbury Town Council’s highways, planning and development committee last week, with councillors agreeing to write to the developer to put pressure on them to fix the road, so it can then be formally adopted by Wiltshire Council.
Specifically, they are asking Backhouse what the nature of the issues are as to why the work has not been completed, what they are doing to resolve these issues and when the work will be completed by.
Cllr King said, “Since completion, the estate has been somewhat abandoned and, in my assessment, nowhere near ready for adoption. This is a high-value estate and some of the houses there are some of the most expensive in Westbury. The estate roads are in a dreadful condition and residents tell me that the developer has told them that this is because they have been let down by a sub-contractor who had been contracted to complete the highway works. Residents also told me that they understand that this contractor is not the first to walk away.
“The condition of the estate roads is exasperating for residents, some of whom have told me that their vehicles have had minor damage to body works and suspension springs owing to the depth of the potholes. Others have expressed a fear that tyres will become shredded by raised manholes and drains and the rough surface and that they will get less than their anticipated life span out of them. Others fear for the safety of their children playing in streets in such a condition.
“Understandably, residents want resolution to this situation now and have been told by Backhouse that it should be settled in the next three weeks on the appointment of another subcontractor. There is much scepticism from some who have heard this before.
“I’m outraged by the way in which this site has been seemingly abandoned. Wiltshire Council has an agreement with Backhouse to bring the road surface up to a standard so they can adopt the roads, as the council will not adopt roads that are not up to standard such as this. There could be a point in time that Backhouse walks away from the site altogether and hands back the responsibility of the road if a resolution cannot be found.”
Cllr Kings says he will also write a personal letter to Backhouse to try and speed progress along.
