Utility companies will have to apply for permission before carrying out work on Cheshire East's roads, under plans being proposed by the council.
Formal consultation is now taking place on a permit scheme, which will mean any utility company planning to undertake repairs will need to apply for a permit before work can start.
At the moment if a utility company wants to carry out work on a road in Cheshire East, it just has to notify Cheshire East Council of the work rather than asking for permission. Under the new scheme, a company will have to apply for permission to access the road before it starts the work.
Other than emergency work, where a company would have to apply for a permit within two hours of the work starting, Cheshire East Council will then grant, refuse or tailor the application. Attached to the permit will also be a list of specific conditions, which would be jointly agreed with the utility companies.
Councillor David Topping, Cheshire East's cabinet member for environment, said: "While we appreciate that utility companies have to make repairs from time to time, it's important that the work is done at a consistently high quality and that any disruption is kept to a minimum. This permit scheme will give us more control over when road works take place, which should help to keep traffic moving as much as possible."
A public notice has been published and the consultation runs from February 3, 2014 to March 14, 2014.
More information about the proposal can be found on the Cheshire East Council website where your comments can be made.
Comments
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At least this way road repairs can be coordinated... and additional repairs (should the initial repair fail in 18 months time ) be completed / enforced contractually but not at tax payers expenses and inconvenience....
The cost of such a permit is irrelevant ... the responsibility for the repair places clear duty of care and responsibility on the contractor / utility to ensure high standards are maintained...
The utility companies have had carte blanche to inconvenience road users for far too long.
They minimise the cost to repair their infrastructure, which maximises the disruption to the road owners ie us.
It is long overdue that this was reversed.
These companies have no regard for the total disruption to local people. However, I would also criticise our local government who in the past have done nothing to oversee these workings.
Though these utility companies get paid great sums of money for the work, but the quality of reinstatement of the roads afterwards leaves a great deal to be desired.
Indeed we talk about the state of our roads and the potholes but I feel over 90% of the problem is the poor quality of work left by the utility companies.