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 Honey Lane
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neil
Forum Owner / Moderator

United Kingdom
2623 Posts

Posted - 16 Dec 2010 :  19:48:57  Show Profile
What a mess the Parish Council is in over the repairing of Honey Lane. The minutes from the latest Policy & Finance Committee read;
quote:
Following a recent incident in which a child from St. Margaret’s School fell into a pothole in Honey Lane, sustained minor injuries and became very wet and muddy. The Headteacher had written to the Chairman requesting the Parish Council do something about the state of Lane. The Clerk outlined the Parish Council position as leaseholder for approximately 50% of Honey Lane, requiring it to maintain this section as a Public Right of Way and having responsibility to maintain the road to a level to allow pedestrians safe passage over it. In addition, West Sussex had designated Honey Lane as part of its ‘Safer Routes to Schools’ network. Honey Lane residents had specified a contract to undertake the repair of the whole road amounting to a total cost of £9,200 and, using this as the possible solution, the Clerk had negotiated a 10% contribution (£920) from 3 West Sussex County Council under the ‘Safer Route to Schools’ programme and had been contacted by a representative from the Allotments Association who offered a contribution of around £500. A separate exercise had been undertaken where the Clerk had obtained a quote to carry out the minimum repairs that would fulfil its responsibilities as leaseholder, which amounted to more than £4,000. There were also concerns about the legal position of both the Parish Council and the residents regarding everyone’s responsibilities. On a proposal by Councillor Mountain, seconded by Councillor Nunn it was RESOLVED that the Parish Council would make a contribution of £2,000 towards the scheme, on condition that the legal position was sorted out once and for all. The Clerk would investigate this with the Parish Council legal adviser. This contribution would be made to fulfil the Parish Council responsibilities and would not set a precedent for the future, either for Honey Lane or any other Private Street in the village.
APC has been phaffing around for years and still does not know its legal position.It clearly has responsibilities for the southern end and it has done a good job in improving the road and path in that area. It may have some moral responsibilities for the rest of the northern part of the road.

This northern end, however, is a different matter. This must largely be the responsibility of the residents of the road who chose to live in a private road in the first place. They must bear a lion's share of any improvements. It is probably their vehicles and traders attending their properties that cause the vast damage to the northern section and not vehicles going to the allotments.

Why? Vehicles going to and from the allotments travel in a straight line and do little initial damage. However, it is the scouring action of the wheels of vehicles turning into a property/garage in the lane that rip up the gravel surface, thus causing the potholes. One flagstone on my own driveway is constantly being pushed out of alignment where my car's wheels turn.

Following the "accident", APC has now panicked and has thrown £2000 of our money at the road for interim repairs. They do not tell us how much Honey Lane residents have contributed. APC has said that this will not be a precedent for making contributions for repairs to other private roads or further repairs to Honey Lane. In reality, it probably is!

Bert
Advanced Member

484 Posts

Posted - 18 Dec 2010 :  16:27:57  Show Profile
However unfortunate the "incident" was, for the child and parents, and I appreciate it probably was, lets not get too carried away.

A child does not "fall into a pothole." If you "fall into" something, then the something has to be of substantial size. There are potholes, but none are of substantial size that a child can "fall into."

Where have APC got the phrase "fall into a pothole," I wonder!

I admit I do not know, but I suspect the child "fell over" at the point of a pothole and "sustained minor injuries and became wet and muddy."

A letter from the school Headteacher should be a reminder that Honey Lane is a problem, particularly as it is part of a school route for some children, but the incident and the letter should not be a reason for APC to go OTT.

I am astonished that the problem of the northern end of Honey Lane, where the residential properties are, remains an issue after many years.

I do not see this as a moral issue for APC. I see it as a question of identifying where the legal responsibility rests, and should be resolved on that basis only. Of course the residents are going to want our Council Tax to pay for upgrading this private road, but are they right in law to expect it?

APC should not be spending Council Tax money on a private road if they are under no legal obligation to do so. To suggest, if they do, would not set a precedent, is absurd. It will set a precedent by definition, and could well stoke up trouble for APC elsewhere in the village in the future.

Not a road to go down, I would suggest!

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BRAM
Advanced Member

373 Posts

Posted - 19 Dec 2010 :  11:43:11  Show Profile
My 8 year old grand daughter fell over on a badly maintained pavement in Littlehampton last year but despite formal complaints to both ADC & WSCC Highways the surface remains neglected & the response was "sorry but we are not liable for any injury."

In addition the issue of BG roads still remains outstanding even though they were always designated to be adopted, so why does APC think it is their responsibility to pay anything towards maintenance of a private road. As Neil points out any surface damage is most probably caused by residents or visitors to Honey Lane properties & is consequently their responsibility, after all they chose to live there, knowing that it was a private road.
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240felicia
Senior Member

172 Posts

Posted - 06 Jan 2011 :  12:56:41  Show Profile
was in the car with bbc sussex on and half heard on the local news a mention of a lady having been injured as she was pushed over by a youth in an alleyway off honey lane in angmering and her bag was snatched...

can't find anything online so don't know if this is a current story or a follow up to something from last year.

do hope the lady is ok... very worrying, that alleyway has always seemed very badly designed from a personal safety point of view...

i hope the person who did this to that lady is caught and gets what they deserve...
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240felicia
Senior Member

172 Posts

Posted - 06 Jan 2011 :  13:02:19  Show Profile
aha, found it on the news feed link

http://www.littlehamptongazette.co.uk/news/local/pensioner_robbed_in_angmering_alleyway_1_2229001

it's not a big village someone must know the perpetrator, he has done a stupid wrong thing and should be reported to the poiice

and the parish council should urgently do something to change the layout of the alleyway to give clear visibility of both ends... as it was bound to happen one day, especially with the high fences so nobody can see anything down there anymore... i just hope it doesn't happen again and that the lady is not too badly shaken, i like to think the majority of people in angmering are decent folk, not selfish idiots like the moron who assaulted and robbed her, and i hope somebody who knows who did this will do the right thing...


Edited by - 240felicia on 06 Jan 2011 13:03:22
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