Marshalswick South Focus Team

Councillors, Rod Perks and Allan Witherick working with Andrew Duff MEP and Melvyn Teare for you Learn more

15 year wait to get your road adopted by the county council highways department

by awitherick on 13 April, 2011

A list of unadopted roads has been compiled which highlights that the majority of unadopted roads in St Albans district can be traced back to just a handful of large developers. Some roads have been waiting nearly 15 years.

Councillor Allan Witherick, who has been fighting hard to get Goldsmiths Way adopted with help from David Partridge, among others, said: ‘Unadopted roads are a real problem for residents.  We can’t get potholes fixed and lights repaired easily and even double yellow lines can’t be enforced- and yet those residents are still paying for those services.
‘It’s something I think that people buying need to be aware of as it’s one of the ways we can put pressure on developers to act responsibly.’
Members learned at the meeting that not a single road in the district had been adopted over the past year.
Liberal Democrat Councillor Rob Prowse said: ‘This is simply not good enough.  We need clear targets of when roads are going to be adopted and what the council is doing about it.  I’ve had residents who, when they’ve tried to sell their house, have been forced to put several hundred pounds in to a bond in case remedial works are required before the road is adopted.  At this rate maybe they should be billing the county council for its failure to make a move.’
The Liberal Democrats are demanding clear targets from the Tory controlled Herts Highways as to what they are going to do to chase developers to get roads adopted.
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