This is bureaucratic incompetence

12:53pm Thursday 1st May 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

Thank you the Herald and John Rushworth for publicising the mismanagement of the sewerage works in Church Street, Norton.

When the works were originally proposed I attended a public consultation and was assured by the Yorkshire Water representative that the works would be finished by late March and that the total closure of Church Sreet would only occur occasionally, and even then only for an hour or two. In the event the work is continuing until at least early May and Church Street has been totally closed for many whole days. The traffic disruption has been horrendous, particularly for local residents. I live on the corner of Langton Road and Nicholas Street and have suffered a constant stream of near stationary traffic, with all the attendant nose, fumes and vibration. Although HGVs are not meant to use this route many have done so and the police have shown no interest in enforcement.

It is now quite clear that the whole project was inadequately planned by Yorkshire Water. It has also been very poorly managed. When I contacted them to complain and ask for information they knew very little about the poblem and passed me on to their contractors, Messrs Costain. They also blamed another company, United Utilities, for the delay in diverting the gas pipe. So this is another example of the effects of privatisaton of a public utility. With the fragmentation of the service it seems that no-one will take responsibility when works go wrong.

Other readers who have suffered from this disruption may however be interested to know that they can formally complain and seek some compensation for failing to adhere to the standards set out in their customer charter.

For more information write to Yorkshire Water environmental business unit, PO box 52, Bradford BD3 7YD. I will certainly be doing so and I will also be asking our local councillors to to investigate this example of bureaucratic incompetence.

MIKE GWILLIAM, Norton.