Accessibility to our town centre is crucial for all of us and we have been concerned about the recent amount of works taking places on the roads in and around Bishop’s Stortford. We have listened to the affect this is having on businesses and have presented this to our local HCC councillor, Calvin Horner. At the meeting we were able to able explain the direct impact and called for more coordination where and when possible.
A few key points to note, which are useful to understand:
- Roadworks and the highways are managed by Herts County Council, the Town Council, East Herts or the BID has no say in what happens.
- If there is an emergency situation, utility companies have the right to come and dig up the road to rectify the problem without having to get a permit ahead of time. They apply afterwards. For example if there is a gas leak, a house is without power, a business without water they can come and do what needs to be done to fix the problem, regardless of what other works are taking place.
- All other routine works must apply for a permit and HCC manages the number issued and looks at the different roads.
- There is some coordination with neighbouring authorities, but the works on the M11 roundabout are not in HCC’s control.
Cllr Horner and I discussed what could be done to improve the current situation, and agreed the following:
- We will both look ahead on the planned schedule of works and identify any potential issues and flag up as required.
- The BID will continue to monitor impact on businesses and report issues to Cllr Horner
- Cllr Horner to find out if there is an emergency contact out of hours for any weekend issues.
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