As your Member of Parliament, I have been working closely with local residents around the area of the Boatman Drive sinkhole to reinstate their access and to find a lasting solution to the problem.
The Council has now published its survey and is monitoring the impact on the road since the residents removed the barriers last year. However, the Council’s responsibility is only for the adopted road and only to a certain depth.
Stoke City Council has made it clear that the responsibility for issues affecting properties is beyond its remit. Severn Trent Water has also produced a report which indicates that the company has no responsibility of the subsidence which continues to blight the area. The developer, a subsidiary of Redrow, fails to engage.
It will fall on homeowners to pay for any remediation necessary as a result of subsidence, and ultimately bear the cost of buildings becoming unsafe to inhabit.
I am concerned that the underlying issues may stem from the inadequate remediation of the site, a former clay pit, prior to developing it, and am continuing to press government for help to resolve the issue as well as looking at future support for brownfield site remediation and protection for the owners of properties built on such sites.
This survey will help me quantify the size of the problem, so please do complete it. - Help me to help you.
