Southend’s road responsibility
A ROW over who is responsible for the upkeep of a Southend road is driving residents round the bend.
The track leads to four council-built houses, Dunaverty Golf Club, two residential properties, holiday accommodation and is used by the farmer of the surrounding land, as well as dog walkers, boat owners and Kintyre Way walkers.
Jenny and Ray Goodman, who live at Dunaverty Cottage on the road, are at the end of their tether with the state of the road. They contacted the Courier after previous correspondence with MSP Michael Russell, councillor Donald Kelly and Argyll and Bute Council failed to determine who has responsibility.
Mr and Mrs Goodman said: ‘It is becoming almost impossible to gain access to numbers nine to 12 Wallace Cottages, due to the condition of the road. These houses were built by the council and serviced by all local authority amenities, with street lighting and road signage.
‘The accessibility problem has got to a point that anybody driving across this area will sustain damage to their vehicles and further decimate the substructure of the road.’
Mrs Goodman contacted the council to ask if it had any responsibility but was told that the road had not been adopted and that it was a private road.
Unadopted roads do not have to be adequately maintained by the highway authority although a legal duty to maintain these roads still exists, but it falls to the owners of the road, which usually consists of the owners of any properties fronting the highway.
Mr and Mrs Goodman added: ‘How can that possibly be the case when the houses were a council development with no private contractors involved? The houses and Dunaverty Golf Club pay all their local rates. The road is in the worst state that I have ever seen it. Our car has been in and out of the garage getting work done.
‘We know we have a partial liability, from the cattle grid at the golf club over to our house, but we need to know who else does.’
An Argyll and Bute council spokesperson told the Courier: ‘There are more than 90km of unadopted roads across Argyll and Bute. This road has not been adopted by the council.’