By Tilly Walder
A large hole in Cliff Road, Lake, has finally been filled in, but the real gap may be in communication between Island Roads and Southern Water.
After surface water drainage problems were reported by residents in October of last year, Island Roads carried out excavation work, but found the underlying issue needed to be looked at by Southern Water.
After months of correspondence Southern Water inspected the site in March and found there was no issue, meaning no repairs were needed. However, the matter remained unresolved until this month, with Island Roads and Southern Water playing ‘pass the parcel’ over responsibility for reinstating the road surface.
Island Roads finally repaired the road in the last few days, after the intervention of MP Joe Robertson, bringing an end to a saga which had left residents and visitors navigating the hole for months.
Parish councillor, Adrian Whittaker, lamented: “I can’t believe that it has taken Island Roads and Southern Water since October to sort out a hole that has had great effect on residents and tourists. There needs to be more joined-up thinking between service providers and Island Roads.”
IW East MP, Mr Robertson, explained: “This is about more than a hole in a path in Lake. It is a perfect demonstration of how the companies responsible for our essential infrastructure on the Island are seemingly unable to work together on a fairly basic level. It should not take seven months to dig a hole and fill it in again. It is another case of pass the parcel while residents have to put up with the inconvenience for far too long.
“It is no wonder we see roads closed for weeks by one company only to be reopened and closed again by another organisation a short while later. In the case of the pipe inspection in Lake, we are half a year on from the original disruption and appear to be no further forward in resolving the underlying surface water issue.”
An Island Roads spokesman said investigations into flooding in the area had identified a number of underground services which needed further checks against existing records. He said additional work was carried out to confirm their purpose and ownership, and that Island Roads had since ‘worked closely’ with Southern Water to resolve the matter.
The spokesman added: “Although this process took longer than initially anticipated, it has now been completed and we are pleased to confirm that the trench was reinstated this week.
“We thank residents for their patience whilst this work was happening.”
Local resident Elaine Hayes, revealed her frustration. She said the drain had been overflowing for years and that she had been contacting Island Roads and Southern Water “almost weekly since December”. She and her husband even placed a tarpaulin over the exposed hole during recent storms to stop it filling with water and further destabilising the cliff edge. “It reached a stalemate,” she said. “It was eight months of work to achieve nothing.”
Southern Water were approached for comment but did not respond by the time we went to print last night (Thursday).
Isle of Wight Observer