Calls for action over unadopted roads

A Hertfordshire county councillor has called on the government to require roads on all new housing developments to be built to "adoptable" standards.

Currently unadopted roads must meet particular design and construction standards before they can be adopted by councils.

At a development in Hatfield where roads have remained unadopted for 20 years, councillors said residents are plagued by issues around maintenance and fly-tipping.

Liberal Democrat councillor Paul Zukowskyj has written to the Secretary of State to call for a national common planning requirement. However, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing said local authorities were best placed to make decisions on the matter.

Labour councillor for Hatfield North, Beth Kelly, presented a motion to the latest meeting of the county council's environment, transport and growth cabinet panel on 22 October.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, councillors at the meeting heard how there are currently 99 roads across the county that remain unadopted.

Hatfield's Salisbury Village development was highlighted, where some roads have remained unadopted by the county council for more than two decades.

Kelly said persistent issues such as fly-tipping, poor lighting maintenance, anti-social behaviour and lack of clarity over maintenance and enforcement had left "residents in a state of confusion and frustration".

A spokesperson for developers Taylor Wimpey and Vistry said a route to adoption had now been agreed.

They said the companies "continue to work closely together, and with Hertfordshire County Council, to secure adoption of the Salisbury Village development as efficiently and swiftly as possible."

Zukowskyj said that legislation is needed for councils to compel developers to "do what the developer is supposed to do."

The spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing said that the government has consulted on "setting common standards for roads and mandatory adoption of certain amenities - and will set out next steps in due course."

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