‘We’re being failed by this confusion’
People across Bath are being “failed” because the council and a major housing association can’t work out who is responsible for what. Twerton resident Rachel Willis said repairs and improvements are being delayed because B&NES and Curo both deny responsibility for a particular area.
She claimed the result was that the council will collect litter in one street but will not fit a handrail - because it is the housing association’s domain.
The problem is caused by discrepancies in the maps used by the two organisations that they say they are working to resolve, but admit there will not be a “quick fix”.
Council leader Tim Warren said it is the “bane of councillors’ lives”.
Speaking at a council meeting, Ms Willis said: “When problems - for example with faulty lights or broken pavements - are reported to B&NES Council, the response is, first of all, for the council to spend some time considering the issue.
“Then, all too often, having thought about it, the council comes back and says, ‘sorry this not our responsibility, you need to take the issue up with Curo.’
“So residents report the same problem to Curo. And guess what? Having thought about it, Curo’s response is ‘this is not a matter for us, it’s a council responsibility.’
“Too many issues end up getting lost in the gap between the two organisations.
“What ordinary resident has time for all this? People just give up and the issues don’t get resolved. The current process is failing residents.”
Ms Willis said there needed to be a mechanism for issues to be passed between the two organisations to ensure one of them takes responsibility, and argued the map should be published in a public and readily searchable way.
She added: “Without action, Twerton residents will continue to feel let down. To take a couple of examples, we have a road [Redland Park] that desperately needs resurfacing but where neither the council nor Curo will agree who owns it.
“We have a set of steps where the council will pick up the litter but won’t provide a handrail because it says the steps belong to Curo.
“And we have whole areas of Twerton that don’t bother to report anything anymore to either the council or Curo because residents simply get told to go away by both organisations.”
Speaking at the meeting, Councillor Tim Ball said the issue affects the whole of Bath, not just Twerton.
Cllr Warren said: “This can be the bane of councillors’ lives as well, hence we’re having a conversation with Curo. We are some way down the line.”
A Curo spokesperson said the housing association understands residents’ frustration and it is working with B&NES to discuss the way forward.
The spokesperson added: “We hope to agree a way forward, working together with politicians and council officers, so that these grey areas of responsibility can be resolved.
“We can’t promise a quick fix as there will need to be further mapping undertaken, protocols agreed and consultation with residents affected so we get this right for local people.”
In response to the comments, Ms Willis said: “It’s nice that they are talking about it, but they make it sound like the likelihood of anything actually changing is pretty slim.”