HOMEOWNERS FACE 18-MONTH ROAD BAN ON SINKHOLE ESTATE
MP to ‘keep pressing’ until solution found
A Stoke-on-trent MP has vowed to continue fighting on behalf of families blighted by a sinkhole on their street – as they face being banned from parking outside their homes for another 18 months.
Stoke-on-trent Central MP Jo Gideon, right, has visited Boatman Drive, in Etruria, after Rip Off Britain featured the giant sinkhole.
For three years residents have been dealing with large cracks appearing in the roads. The city council was forced to close the road to traffic in August 2019, meaning families have not been able to park their cars outside their homes ever since.
The authority remains locked in a dispute over the issue with developer Redrow and Severn Trent Water.
Now the council has issued a new temporary road closure notice, which could last for a further 18 months.
Ms Gideon has now vowed to continue to raise the issue of sinkholes and subsidence in Stokeon-trent at every opportunity with ministers and parliamentary colleagues until a solution is reached.
She said: “Following the coverage of the Boatman Drive sinkhole issue on Rip Off Britain recently, I’ve come back to have a look.
“This has been going on for far, far too long and I said before enough is enough.
“I understand now that the council has issued another temporary road closure notice, which could run for another 18 months. You know, this has already been two years. “We have to find a solution and I know that the residents are really frustrated that while the people who may have a level of responsibility for this have all said to them that they’re listening, people haven’t kept them informed and there hasn’t been a clear proposal as to how we resolve this.
“I will keep pressing this until we find a solution.”
Regarding the latest road closure order, a city council spokesman said: “Our primary concern from the start has been to protect the safety of residents and the public and that is why we took the difficult but reasonable and proportionate decision to close part of the road by making a temporary traffic regulation order.
“With the defect in the highway still present, the danger to public safety remains very real, and we are now looking to bring in a further temporary regulation order following discussions with the Department for Transport.”