PROBLEMS WITH ROADS IN ALVELEY AND ROMSLEY
The responsible council for maintaining all the roads in the parish is Shropshire Council, they are the Highway Authority. Parish councils cannot carry out works on the highways without their approval, and council tax paid to Shropshire should be used to fund highway maintenance. Parish precepts, the amount we collect from local people, do not cover this and they would be very much higher if they did.
Recently the Alveley and Romsley Parish Council have raised many concerns about the state of the roads with Shropshire Council and in October advised them that we were considering legal proceedings against them for not meeting their statutory obligations under the Highways Act. This is not the way we would prefer to operate. Four area of particular concern were noted - the car park in Cooks Cross, Chapel Lane leading towards the Country Park, the area around St Mary's Church and leading down towards the industrial estate and the three sink holes that keep appearing on the A422 heading towards Kiddderminster.
Since we did this the sink holes have been repaired, not just patched up as had happened before. One is showing some signs of dipping again, the other two appear to have been properly fixed. We have had some poor quality patch repairs on Chapel Lane and continue to lobby for a more suitable solution. We have had some communication about the Cooks Cross car park but no action yet and no significant work on the area around St Mary's Church.
Parish councils across the county are competing for resources for many highway defects as Shropshire continues to report acute problems with funding all its obligations. We are seeking a conversation to confirm when the well known problem areas we have will be fixed and are pressing for definite dates. This is not limited to the four areas we highlighted in our warning about legal proceedings. Planned maintenance with lasting solutions is more cost effective in the long run than constant patch repairs that need to be done over and over again and we urge Shropshire Council to be more effective in managing their highways and keeping them in a safe condition for drivers, cyclists, riders and pedestrians.