Unadopted estate 'blighted by urban decay'

A housing estate which has yet to be adopted by Peterborough City Council is becoming blighted by "urban decay", according to a councillor.

Julie Stevenson, an Independent councillor who also lives in Orton Northgate, believes the delay is due to the upkeep being shared by four developers.

As a result, roads are cracked, water courses unmaintained and there is "a big hole" in a wooden bridge over water which "a child could fall through", she said.

Peterborough City Council said it was "working closely with the developers", but it was their responsibility "to bring the highway up to an adoptable standard".

Stevenson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): "The Orton Northgate estate has yet to be adopted by the council, despite it being finished nearly ten years ago.

"As a result we're starting to experience some urban decay."

Once an estate is adopted by a council, it becomes responsible for maintaining facilities like roads and streetlights.

Stevenson added it was "really unfair" that "the people who live here, who pay their council tax… sometimes also pay a charge to the developer's management company".

She called on Peterborough's Labour MP Sam Carling to "knock some heads together" to get the developers and council to resolve the issues.

Carling said he shared residents' frustrations, adding: "The current system, where responsibility is split between multiple developers and councils, can result in the kind of neglect we're seeing here."

The government had launched consultations to improve adoption processes rights, he said.

A spokesperson for Barratt Homes said it had recently appointed a new estate management agency to resolve the issues.

"As soon as the roads leading into the estate are adopted by another developer, we will ensure the roads under our responsibility are adopted as soon as possible," they added.

A spokesperson for Persimmon Homes said: "The roads on our first phase of development have been adopted by Peterborough City Council.

"The roads on the second phase have adoption certificates from Peterborough City Council and are about to be transferred formally this week."

A spokesperson for Taylor Wimpey said it was aware of "some outstanding remedial works at The Shires" and it was working with contractors to address work "in our legal ownership" on Kelburn Road.

"We are also working towards securing the necessary agreements for the formal adoption of roads under our ownership," they added.

The fourth developer, Jelson Ltd, said the issues raised by the LDRS fell outside land it owned or controlled.

The Labour-controlled authority's spokesperson said its highways team had investigated and did not believe any of the individual issues highlighted by the residents fell within its responsibility.

"We are however working closely with the developers to bring forward adoptions and advising on what works they will be required to do to enable this," they said.

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