Letter: It Seems Street Maintenance Has Been Abandoned

Published on: 27 Apr, 2022
Updated on: 27 Apr, 2022

From: Dave Middleton

In response to: Town Pavements Look ‘Unloved, Abandoned and Neglected’ But SCC Says ‘Major Repairs’ Planned

It’s not just the town area of Guildford that needs serious attention. The streets and lanes around Stoughton, Stoke, Bellfields and Worplesdon where I live are in dreadful condition.

Roads and footways are uneven, rutted and potholed. Hedges and foliage, both wild and domestic overhang and obstruct the roads and footways, in some places reducing the footway width by over 50%.

Roads and streets are not swept, roadside gutters and gulley drains are often blocked and full of detritus.

Road signs and street nameplates are dirty and often obscured by vegetation.

I have almost given up reporting these matters to the highway authorities, as either nothing is done, or a contractor attends and does a half-hearted job.

It seems that the everyday ‘housekeeping’ tasks of maintaining our streets have been entirely abandoned.

Responses to Letter: It Seems Street Maintenance Has Been Abandoned

Jim Allen Reply

April 28, 2022 at 12:49 am

That’s simple, the same reason we have an insufficient-capacity sewage treatment works, lack of drinking water, inadequate road capacity, no parking facilities, no integrated transport and overloaded electrical systems, because all this ancillary infrastructure will miraculously appear overnight, when and after the new houses have been built.

It is all clearly laid out in the Local Plan. Under the section entitled “Flying pigs landing zone!”.

Guildford Town Planning runs on house building expectations. All other items in our community seem to simply have no relevance to our community in planning terms.
Roland Dunster Reply

April 29, 2022 at 10:38 pm

I agree with every word of Dave Middleton’s assessment of the neglect of Stoughton, Stoke, Bellfields and Worplesdon. I experience the same when reporting such matters.

Sadly, I believe it is reflective, not of a lack of resources, but a lack of pride at local and national authority level, which in turn, leads to a, “Nobody else cares, so why should I?’ attitude in the wider population.

The national and local (including GBC’s) litter “strategy” (aka expensive vicious circle) of, allowing littering; cursory cleaning; allowing littering, is a prime example, and the tolerance of this consequence-free crime has made the appalling, nationwide litter blight, ubiquitous to the point of both public and authorities being indifferent or blind to it.

Just as we understand and accept parking enforcement, I now firmly believe that reputable authority support providers for litter and fly-tipping enforcement, at the national and local level, are required to tackle this environmentally and socially-corrosive scourge.