'Council holding up roadworks'

12:20pm Thursday 8th May 2008

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LONG-promised road repairs are being held up because the county council is dragging its heals, a property developer claimed this week.

C&G Properties said it could not complete works to resurface Grange Road in St Cross because it had not had the say-so from county hall.

Grange Road residents have been left frustrated that the repairs had not been done after they were promised by Hampshire County Council in March last year.

In February a spokeswoman for the county council said it was still liaising with the developer.

But this week a surveyor for C&G said it was the council which was holding up the work.

Paul Smith said: "We've been hassling the council for many months now to relieve this.

"We want to get the contract signed off, but can't do that until the council provides us with the exact details of what they want us to do."

He said that as part of the agreement for building a housing development in Grange Road, the firm agreed to contribute towards improvements to a small section of Grange Road at the junction to St Cross Road, the footpath and nearby bus shelter.

Mr Smith added: "It's totally in the hands of the council."

A spokeswoman for Hampshire County Council said that the scope of the works were agreed, but the problem was the implementation of part of the works to lower the footway to the north of Grange Road, which is significantly raised above St Cross Road.

She said there were utility services within the footway and the utilities companies initially did not want them moved.

She added: "More recently the utilities companies have said it would cost a significant amount of money to move them, which the developer is unhappy about paying.

"We can't separate the footway works from the works to the junction and resurfacing the road, as one affects the other, so until we find a solution, the rest of the works are on hold."