Who is responsible for checking the road resurfacing on our roads?
Morley Green Road has been resurfaced and so have some of the grids. Whilst the tarmac on others has been broken up, only for the tarmac to be left in the grid.
Reader's Letter: Spot the difference ... now you see them now you don’t
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
It is the same story throughout the town when roads are finally seen to.
One of the broken kerbs has just been bodged up (again) on Summerfields Village by beleaguered old Cheshire East.
Given what happened to the 'repair' the last time, we expect it to stay a few months before, yes you guessed it, the crew are out yet again.
False economy anybody ?
Quite who does oversee the work....
Regards,
Summerfields Residents Association
....oh yes they did. The UDC even had a steam roller which lived at the Council Depot where the original Fire Station once stood (and where the soon to be closed/bulldozed 'new' Police Station now stands).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheshire_County_Council
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/03c58ed1-3fe5-4fa4-86ac-701bb7106a49
See links below that relate to the formation of both Cheshire County Council and Wilmslow Urban District Council.
https://bit.ly/2JnxRlk
https://bit.ly/2RycnU2
I realise this thread is about road repairs so I don't wish to highjack the main subject.
In the mid/late 50's WUDC had a big steam driven construction machine - dirty great metal wheel at the front steered by chains and two even bigger wheels at the rear. If I recall correctly it was painted a very posh maroon with 'Wilmslow Urban District Council' in big white letters.
This machine (probably by circa 1960) was replaced with something very similar, equally huge and impressive but not quite so pretty (painted black, probably second hand - the council were prudent...), powered by a diesel engine. WUDC didn't use it for sweeping roads or clearing the drains....and certainly not for ironing the Council minutes!!
The same Hawthorn Street Depot was home to
- a small fleet of hand carts each equipped with a stiff broom 'mast' and a range of shovels pushed around the streets by a band of happy chaps who kept the footpaths and gutters clean and tidy
- another fleet of smallish trucks with sliding clamshell steel dome shaped loadspace covers were driven around the district to collect refuse (...empty household metal dustbins) which had to be hoisted onto a shoulders of another band of very happy chappies to be tipped into the open side of the truck - that was a damned hard days work but not only did we get our bins emptied, each street got its' own personalised 'dustbin tympany'.
I'm not sure about CCC records but I do have a reasonably clear memory and lived on Hall Road not more than 200-300 yards from the old Fire Station and Council depot.
Now back to the current state of CEC and Wilmslow roads...
I don't doubt your recollections, but they don't change my opinion that the responsibility for highways maintenance was always the responsibility of the County Council.
Years ago I phoned the council to say that Grove Street in Wilmslow had litter in many places and needed cleaning. The person in the appropriate department went 'tap, tap, tap' on a key board and replied that this could not be so as the street was cleaned only the day before.
What she really meant was that someone sat on a mechanised machine that was a cross between a sit-on lawnmower and a large vacuum cleaner and drove it up and down the street with the intention of picking up any litter that got in the way. This isn’t the same as saying that Grove Street had been cleaned, or was clean - just that it ought to be clean. Sometimes the best tools for a job are the ones tried and tested over many years, such as a brush and shovel. An improvement would be a very large vacuum cleaner with a very long hose that can get into the areas where a large machine cannot reach. This is usually where the fag ends and smaller items tend to reside and wouldn’t be collected by a human on their own because it requires bending down which can cause back injuries. Such machines could be electric or powered by a small petrol engine.
Someone mentioned grids. Have you ever noticed how many grids are full of debris to such an extent that NO water can drain into them? Count them next time you go for a walk and then contact your local councillor to tell them how many are blocked.