A RESIDENT of Whitewell Road is up in arms about a three-year delay to finish construction work on “dangerous” pavements outside her home.
According to Elaine Rutland, the pavements have been “abandoned” by developers Acorn Land (SW) Ltd – who recently built 12 houses on the road – leaving the area looking like a “cordoned-off building site”.
Elaine has raised concern about the risk to safety, explaining that pedestrians are forced to “risk their lives” by walking on the road to avoid “open trenches”.
In a letter to the developers, Elaine said, “I can only hope we do not experience an incident resulting in injury or death: a child could easily fall into an unprotected trench or worse, suffer a vehicular collision through lack of pavement.
“I personally know two local residents who are severely visually impaired and – as a direct result of your pavement excavations – cannot walk to the shops safely.
“Therefore, not only is this an unsightly and dangerous situation, but also negatively affecting the well-being of vulnerable people in this community.”
The developer has told Frome Times that the delay has been caused by a number of reasons including the Covid pandemic, and incorrectly laid fibre optic cable belonging to Virgin Media that was found “very close to the surface” during work in early 2020.
But hope could be on the horizon for Elaine and her neighbours, as discussions have recently taken place between Acorn, Virgin Media and Somerset County Council to complete the work.
A spokesperson for Acorn Land (SW) Ltd told Frome Times, “No pavement existed previous to Acorn purchasing the site and we then donated a portion of the frontage of 50 – 60 Whitewell Road to the council as well agreeing to lay a new pavement.
“The agreement to do the work was delayed between Somerset County Council and ourselves for a year or more, and we cannot begin the work until an agreement is reached with SCC.
“We began work in early 2020 but during the works, a fibre optic cable was found very close to the surface which should have been laid to a minimum 450mm deep, sadly it hasn’t been laid correctly. The owners were eventually found as Virgin Media. Due to Covid and other issues, it has taken until two weeks ago for SCC and Virgin Media to agree a way forward.
“A meeting on site has taken place this week (week commencing 24th May) to agree principles for the work to be completed. Once all parties involved have everything confirmed and in writing,princi the work will be completed.
“We have on numerous occasions updated residents of the situation which sadly has been out of our hands.”
Picture: Elaine Rutland with the pavement still ‘under construction’ on Whitewell Road.