READERS LETTER
Thank you for your very welcome and excellent Hailsham News.
With interest, I have read your article (February 2022, issue 05), on the appalling condition of many of our roads and pavements and the massive amounts of money that goes into repairing them.
It is a topic that has bugged me for many years. It is not just Hailsham or East Sussex that suffers from such neglect, it is all over the country.
Why should the Government and local authorities have to foot the bill? A not-too-careful examination of Hailsham streets will clearly show that most potholes come after a ‘repair’ has been carried out after a utility of some sort or another – gas, electricity, telephone, water, and internet companies have dug up a hole or channel.
The holes have been so badly reinstated that after a short period they break up, especially at the edges and later a pothole is created.
If these companies want to break up our trunk and community roads why can’t they be made to sign a consent form in the form of a contract that legally binds and requires them to reinstate their holes to the original condition and to maintain them in that condition for say a period of five years?
How often have we seen a newly re-surfaced road being dug up and the utility company walks away having left a problem for the future and at the expense of the authorities and our Council Tax.
Do Utility Companies and others, have the legal right to dig holes wherever and whenever they want and just put up barriers or miles of cones? They should be made responsible for their actions to ensure the safe passage of cars, cyclists and pedestrians.
It makes me mad!
Jack, Hailsham.
Readers letters can be emailed to editor@hailsham.news
