Residents' call for action over road works in Morpeth as traffic diversion is extended again

A road diversion will not be completed until spring at the earliest after starting last summer and an official complaint has been lodged with Northumberland County Council complaining of ‘bodge job fixes’ by developer Countryside Partnerships.

Works are being carried out on a road off the A197 which runs to newly-built homes on the Saint George estate in Morpeth and the St George's Park mental health hospital.

As a result, traffic is being diverted via Cottingwood Lane as a private road that follows from the top of the lane by King Edward VI School (KEVI) to the hospital site has been opened up.

They started in August and residents were told they would last for a minimum of 14 weeks. But there have been a number of delays since then and a newsletter to the residents of Saint Georges Wood from the developer said they will have to use the diversionary route ‘until the week commencing April 24’.

Although Countryside Partnerships has thanked residents for their patience over the delays to the project, it insists that it has “implemented working procedures to help address the concerns raised by local residents, often going beyond what would be expected of any developer in a similar situation”.

Residents have also called for a face-to-face meeting to take place with senior officials from the developer, the county council, the school and the trust running the hospital, as well as local MP Ian Lavery.

The email of complaint to the county council from a Saint Georges Wood resident includes the following points:

“The roads we are now being forced to use for nearly a year are uneven, messy, have blocked drains along the route, and are littered with potholes and broken tarmac. The bodge job fixes which Vistry (the scheme now falls under Countryside Partnerships after being acquired by Vistry Group) keep doing are not suitable for the time of year, or any road for that matter.

“HGVs are still using the diversion road at school times. The petrol tanker which filled Vistry's power unit powering the temporary lights followed me down the hill at 8.25am on a Tuesday morning whilst children were walking to school. The Vistry operative at the bottom of the hill in the hi-viz jacket did nothing to stop them.

“The parking control by the NHS hospital is non-existent. Cars ignore the 'no parking' cones. This is a huge obstruction for pedestrians and drivers. I have regularly seen pushchairs, dog walkers and children being forced to walk in the road just so the NHS staff and visitors can park half on the road and half on the path.”

James Elliott, representing the residents, forwarded this email to the various parties he has been communicating with and some of his points were as follows: “I will be very surprised if the project completes against the timelines stated in the latest newsletter from Vistry.

“You have quite rightly pointed out the significant risks posed to residents of Saint Georges Wood, NHS staff and patients, staff and pupils of KEVI and residents of Cottingwood Lane – and I agree with all of your observations.

“As residents and taxpayers, I know we all feel like we are shouting into the wind on this issue and no-one in significant authority is taking our concerns seriously or doing anything about them.

“All of that said, I would, however, like to applaud the efforts of Graham Railton (associate technical director) from Vistry. Graham has been the only senior manager at Vistry who has provided us with transparent information and support throughout this project.”

A Countryside Partnerships North East spokesperson said: “The works to create a new access road from the junction of Dark Lane (A197), leading to Palmerstone Avenue and St George’s Hospital, were a prerequisite of the county council planning consent for housing development at Saint George’s Wood.

“In partnership with Northumberland County Council and the Highways Agency, our priorities throughout are pedestrian and vehicular safety, minimising wherever possible disruption and ensuring a high quality of work.

“We are endeavouring to carry out the project as quickly as possible. However, the scale of the works meant there was bound to be disruption and unfortunately the discovery of additional, unforeseen remedial work identified once the job was underway, has added to this.

“Throughout the process we have communicated openly and honestly with local residents and those impacted, and we thank all of those who have shown patience and co-operation. It is greatly appreciated.

“We have regularly monitored progress and implemented working procedures to help address the concerns raised by local residents, often going beyond what would be expected of any developer in a similar situation. To that end we have done the following:

“Added to our site management team and employed a traffic marshal to restrict vehicles gaining access to Cottingwood Lane during peak hours. This is in addition to our constant reinforcement of said restrictions to our supply chain partners.

“Financed a student traffic marshal to safely assist children crossing Cottingwood Lane and access to the school entrance.

“Financed additional gritting during the winter months (whilst the diversion is in place) to Howard Road and Cottingwood Lane (serving the diversion route) which are not presently designated as gritting routes by the local authority.

“Invested over £200,000 to date for on-going maintenance of the estate road serving the diversion connecting Saint George’s Wood and St George’s Hospital to Cottingwood Lane.

“Agreed to organise and facilitate fortnightly inspections of the diversion route with nominated representatives of the Saint George’s Wood residents’ group to ensure on-going concerns can be raised, monitored and actioned where applicable.

“Supported the Stobhill Food Bank prior to Christmas, a charity suggested by the residents of Saint George’s Wood.”

A county council spokesperson: “We are well aware of the on-going issues in this area and have been liaising closely with the contractor over the past few months to try and ensure work was completed on time and to a high standard.

“We sympathise with residents and road users who have faced long-term disruption and will be raising these further concerns relating to the adequacy of the developer’s parking controls around the NHS hospital site, maintenance standard of the private access road and their management of the agreed HGV site traffic controls along Cottingwood Lane with Vistry as a matter of urgency.”

A spokesperson for The Three Rivers Learning Trust said: “We remain concerned for the safety of students walking to and from KEVI, at the start and end of the school day, caused by the diversion.

“The school has been involved in ongoing discussions with the relevant agencies to consider how we can manage and mitigate risks during this period of time.

“It remains a difficult situation and we are particularly disappointed that the timeframe for completion of the work has been extended into the new year.”

Mr Lavery said: “My office have been in contact with Mr Elliott, who has been tirelessly representing the residents on the estate for a number of months now regarding the roadworks at Saint George’s Wood and the subsequent complications that have arisen.

“This included representatives from my office meeting with Mr Elliott, along with representatives from Vistry, back in October to get an update and see the issues in person.

“Whilst there is an appreciation from the residents that these roadworks are necessary and the delays caused by the cold weather are unavoidable, understandably there are growing frustrations from the residents both at how long the roadworks are taking as well as the poor management and communications regarding the complications it has been causing.

“Many of the challenges now facing the residents of the estate were entirely predictable, yet have sadly been allowed to happen anyway. What must now happen is that the proper resources are given to ensure the work is done as swiftly as possible with minimum disruption, and that going forward these errors are learnt from.

“My office will continue to be in touch with Mr Elliott going forward and will do whatever we can to represent the views and interests of the residents to get this work done with as little disruption as possible, as soon as possible.”

A spokesperson for Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, which runs St George's Park, said: “We strive to be good neighbours to those living near our hospital sites. We have communicated with our staff to reiterate the importance of being considerate and safe when parking and driving around our local communities.”