Highways

Open Letter to Colin Chick

Executive Director of Economy Environment & Infrastructure

Dear Sir

Highway Surfaces in Kempley Parish

Kempley is some 6-8 miles from local market towns and as we have no local shops for basic provisions and no effective public transport, we are all totally dependent on the local road infrastructure to secure our basic supplies. When it starts to fail it affects every aspect of village life.

We have worked closely with your local staff to deal with highway repairs across our Parish.  They have responded effectively and efficiently within the constraints of your current policies on highway repairs and maintenance.

Despite this good work we have made it clear to them that the current declining status of our road network is not satisfactory.  Nearly two years ago we pointed out that the excellent micro asphalt surface installed some 7 years ago to the main roads through Kempley was reaching the end of its economic life and was breaking away from the underlying wearing course. We pressed your staff to replace this surface before weather and water took its inevitable toll and did further damage to our road network.  We highlighted critical areas where the surface needed to be replaced, an investment we believed would extend the economic life of our road network without the need for subsequent major repairs.

The response we received was that no resurfacing works were planned in Kempley for the next 2 years and that your surveys of the road condition indicated that the network across the parish remained sound.  Your staff also made it clear that repairs to the failing surface would only be made if a pothole was formed greater than 12” width and deeper than 1.5” deep in line with your current policy.

We are therefore left in an impossible position where we can see the road surface deteriorating but can see no action on your part because of existing County Council policies on highway maintenance.  The road condition in the area of the Queens Wood car park is particularly problematic.  The road here has varying light conditions and in winter months the setting sun blinds motorists as they rise up the hill towards Kempley.  The road surface is opening up as the micro asphalt fails and shallow potholes emerge right across the road which you refuse to repair.  The road here is part of the Newent Cycle Loop and is positively dangerous for cyclists and drivers alike as they seek to avoid the worst problem areas.  The problem is compounded by traffic movements into and out of the Forestry Commission car park.

As a Parish Council we wish therefore to formally put on record our dissatisfaction with current Gloucestershire County Council Policy which is leading to an unsatisfactory deterioration in our highway network.

We call on you to replace the micro asphalt surface on the roads through our Parish and to pay particular attention to the section through Queens Wood.  We would also be grateful to receive copies of your annual surveys into the condition of the highway network in our parish as we seek to build up an inventory on the current condition of our infrastructure and the underlying highway construction specifications.

We would be pleased to talk further with you to seek resolution to our concerns as this is no longer a matter that can be resolved with your local staff. We would be pleased to offer you the opportunity to attend our next public online Parish Council meeting on 18^th January 2021 starting at 7:30pm.  If this is not suitable we would also be pleased to arrange a one off private zoom meeting with yourself and key Parish Councillors at your convenience.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

Arin Spencer

Clerk to Kempley Parish Council

Copy to GAPTC; Area Manager West Jenny Goodson; LHM North Forest Andrew Middlecote; Gloucestershire County Council Cllr. Will Windsor-Clive; Oxenhall Parish Meeting

From: “HAWORTH, Kathryn” 

To: “‘clerk@kempleyparishcouncil.org'” <clerk@kempleyparishcouncil.org>

CC: “CHICK, Colin” 

Date: 16/12/2020 14:57

Subject: Highway Surfaces in Kempley Parish

Dear Arin,

Thank you for your letter dated the 25^th November 2020 which was sent to Colin Chick.  He has asked me to investigate and I thank you for bringing to our attention your concerns with the highway surfaces in Kempley Parish.

As part of the council’s priorities it is investing £150 million in Gloucestershire’s roads to reduce the maintenance backlog on class A, B and C roads.  Even then it will not eradicate all the outstanding works but it will go a significant way to improving the network condition, saving money in the long term by reducing reactive maintenance requirements.  The way in which we prioritise works is that our entire network is surveyed using a scanning machine which gives us data readings for texture, skid resistance, cracking and deformation.  All our schemes are identified using this data. This process, coupled with pothole data obtained from our contractor, gives us a list of sites which need attention. These potential sites are then inspected and verified by one of our engineers. When a remedial treatment is identified, the cost is then calculated. It is ultimately the budget we are allocated each year that dictates how many of these schemes we can treat each year.   Sites are continually re-assessed and should a site deteriorate severely in the mean time the additional score values that depend on the visual assessment of the road condition and the assessed level of intervention required can be adjusted.  Whilst I appreciate you may not like the outcome from the prioritisation process, I can assure you that it is a very robust process and ensures that the funding available stretches the furthest and with the most benefit.

Unfortunately we do not currently have any schemes in the programme for Kempley Parish. We will however continue to visit the area as part of our highway safety inspections to ensure that the roads remain in a safe and usable condition.  I note your concerns with the section through Queens Wood and will arrange for a Highway Safety Inspection of this road, where any defects identified in line with the criteria will be programmed for repair.

Best regards

Kathryn

________________________________________________________________

Kathryn Haworth

Head of Highway Authority

Gloucestershire County Council

Open Letter to Colin Chick

Executive Director of Economy Environment & Infrastructure

Copy to Kathryn Haworth – Head of Highway Authority

Dear Mr Chick

Highway Surfaces Kempley Parish

Thank you for asking Kathyrn Haworth to reply to the letter of 25^th November concerning the state of highway surfaces in Kempley Parish and in particular the section of highway through Queens Wood.

Kempley Parish Council (the Council) has elected to write to you directly, and not use the normal communication networks on highway matters, because they have exhausted these channels to achieve an acceptable solution to the deterioration seen in Kempley’s C class highway network. Council recognises that your local officers are working within the established policy constraints that the County Council has set down and that govern your current maintenance and renewal policies for highways across the county and therefore are unlikely to be able to help further. 

It is these policies that are leading to an unacceptable deterioration in Kempley’s essential highway network, to a level well below what the parish has come to expect from this County Council.  In a county seeking to tackle the climate crisis it is crucial to maintain C class roads, identified as critical cycle routes, to a higher standard than is currently expected.  It cannot be right on the Newent Cycle route to allow the micro-asphalt surface to deteriorate and open up shallow potholes that fall outside the threshold for repair and remain a hazard to cyclists for months on end, made worse by regular traffic movements.

Council does not believe it makes economic sense to let these shallow potholes allow water ingress into the sub-base of the carriageway, accelerating the deterioration of both the micro-asphalt surface and the sub-base itself and leading over time to the need for more expensive remediation after months of aggravation to local road users.  Parishioners who have lived in Kempley for nearly 30 years have not previously seen such a marked deterioration in the road network which appears due to changing policy decisions on how rural roads are maintained.

While councillors welcome the commitment to arrange for a safety inspection of the road section through Queens Wood, it is understood this will be undertaken in line with your current inspection criteria which, as outline above, they believe to be a reduction from past highway maintenance standards. When this survey is undertaken Council would be grateful if a copy can be provided for use along with other recent data you may possess assessing the state of this section of road.  This data will help Council to explain the condition of the local highway to local residents.

Regardless of the survey outcomes Council urges you to consider changes to highway policies that will increase the level of maintenance given to C class roads, which have been treated with micro-asphalt surfaces and are used as critical cycle routes, to ensure that the road pavement is maintained water-tight and without shallow pothole surfaces.

Council would like to suggest that such C class roads are a special case that fall outside the current highway policies and should be maintained to these higher standards.  It is hoped that a small proportion of the priority funding for highways be spent on such roads.

Look forward to hearing more positive news from you in the near future.

Yours sincerely,

Arin Spencer

Clerk to Kempley Parish Council

Copy to GAPTC; Area Manager West Jenny Goodson; LHM North Forest Andrew Middlecote; Gloucestershire County Council Cllr. Will Windsor-Clive; Oxenhall Parish Meeting

From: HAWORTH, Kathryn

To: ‘Arin Spencer’ <clerk@kempleyparishcouncil.org>

CC: “GOODSON, Jenny”, “CHICK, Colin”

Date: 19/05/2021 08:49

Subject: RE: Highway Surfaces in Kempley Parish

Dear Arin,

Thank you for your letter dated the 6^th April 2021 which was sent to Colin Chick. He has asked me to respond on his behalf and I offer my sincere apologies for the delay in my response.

As the highway authority we have a duty to maintain the entire network for all users. The funding we receive is, as with all public services, limited. We therefore have to ensure that this funding is used to its full potential and at locations where the greatest benefit / improvement to network condition will be achieved. We use a data led system as has already been detailed previously to do this. Sites only secure funding if the data supports their inclusion into the programme, which is of course the only way it can be done, by employing proven and proper asset management techniques. Whilst I appreciate you may not agree with our highway policies, I can assure you that it is a very robust process and ensures that the funding available stretches the furthest and with the most benefit. 

For a feel of the issues faced, our system generates circa 3000 schemes per year that would benefit from work across the County. These are all visited, assessed and resurfacing options designed and priced up. These are then ranked against all others requiring work based on its condition, number of users per day, defects and other factors, this is the only way it can be done. Those ranked highest secure funding and the process starts again for the next year to ensure that any in year deterioration is picked up. Any site receiving a resurface will always be the one that needs it based on sound asset management principles.  Over the last few years this has resulted in a focus on our A and B roads which of course carry the majority of traffic/users but we do assess the whole network, including the C and unclassified roads.

A network hierarchy is key to providing a consistent maintenance strategy and crucial to asset management in creating levels of service. A roads hierarchy must reflect the needs, priorities and actual use of the road as determined by its functionality and importance. The road through Queens Wood is a C class road and is part of the Newent Cycle Loop.

Our safety inspector works in accordance with Highways Safety Policy.  A Highways Safety Inspection policy, in line with national guidance, sets out how frequently roads are inspected and the criteria for determining which defects are prioritised for repair. The Policy is designed to identify all defects which are likely to cause danger or serious inconvenience to users of the network or the wider community and allows the County Council to provide pro-active maintenance to reduce risk and provide the public with a safe as possible highway network.

Best regards

Kathryn

Head of Highway Authority

Gloucestershire County Council

Open Letter to

Kathryn Haworth

Head of Highway Authority

Gloucestershire County Council

kathryn.haworth@gloucestershire.gov.uk

Dear Kathryn

Highway Surfaces Kempley Parish

Thank you for your response dated 19 May 2021 which unfortunately does nothing to allay fears that Kempley’s strategic rural highway C class network will continue to deteriorate as a direct result of your policies.  As a community we are simply not prepared to accept that your current policies are fit for purpose. 

If as a County Council you are in a position where you cannot maintain the current road network to an acceptable standard due to lack of funds, we would expect to see the County Council lobbying for additional resources.  Kempley Parish Council, along with likely many others in the Forest of Dean, would be prepared to lobby with you for more funds to bring the strategic rural C class road network back up to standard.

Rural communities will always be dependent on what you classify as C class roads and will always fall behind the demands of the County Council to maintain the A and B Class road networks in times of reducing budgets.  It cannot be right, however, that rural communities suffer by always being at the “back of the queue” for resources to maintain critical access roads to our community.

As a Parish Council we want to work constructively with you to rectify the historical decline in our infrastructure and to break the current paradigm.  As a first step we would recommend that you reprioritise parts of the C class road network and identify those high priority C class roads that provide critical access routes to isolated rural communities, serve a dual purpose (such as the Newent Cycle Loop), or provide critical access for the urban population to reach rural amenities and countryside outdoor opportunities.  In this way you can rebalance how you prioritise your limited spend to make sure that these roads, critical to rural living, are not neglected as is currently the case.

The second option is to start a co-ordinated campaign for more resources so you are able to maintain all the current highway network to a standard we all expect in an advanced modern and wealthy country.  A comparison of the standards now evident on the road and cycle way network in the Netherlands against those found in Gloucestershire shows how far backwards our standards have fallen.

Going forward Kempley Parish Council will start to log all defects in the road network on our Parish Online Software on a map layer specifically for highways so that we build a record of the deteriorating standards of our highways.  A photographic record will be built up over time and Council will be pleased to distribute copies to you and local councillors.  This will be in addition to the limited logging of defects allowed on “Your Highways – Report it” site. 

We intend to encourage local residents to help us in this work as we are all affected by the deterioration in our highway network at a time when we are experiencing growing traffic movements from agricultural activities which will only accelerate the decline in our highway.  Our expectation is that this data will be crucial to the argument that more resources are required to protect the strategic rural highway network.  

I can assure you we want to work with you to reverse the historical decline in our road infrastructure and not to accept the current situation.  I trust you will agree something needs to change and that you will consider the above suggestions as a potential way forward.  As a Council we would also welcome the opportunity to meet with you to discuss these ideas and find a way forward.

Yours sincerely,

Arin Spencer

Clerk to Kempley Parish Council

Copy to Executive Director of Economy Environment & Infrastructure Colin Chick; Area Manager West Jenny Goodson; LHM North Forest Andrew Middlecote; Gloucestershire County Council Cllr Gill Mosely; Oxenhall Parish Meeting; GAPTC