Petition Footways at Adelaide Terrace and Harrison Terrace

Petition – Footways at Adelaide Terrace and Harrison Terrace

I refer to the petition which was attached to your email of 15th January. As you are aware from XXX’s email of 16th January, the work has been put on hold pending further investigation into the options for repairing the footways.

The works were identified as a result of the routine inspections which are carried out on the highway network. We do walked “safety” inspections every two months where defects which are deemed to be an immediate hazard against pre-set criteria are identified. Such defects are repaired by the end of the next working day. In a residential area, these would typically be the sort of defect which could lead to slips, trips or falls. In the case of paving of the type found on Adelaide/Harrison Terrace, the most common problem is that of loose blocks, but we also get issues with the blocks adjacent to the kerb suffering from settlement due to being overrun and parked on by vehicles. The second type of inspection is the annual “service” inspection which looks at the general state of the network and identifies those elements which are in need of treatment to try to prevent them from becoming safety hazards in the future.

In three years from January 2009, a total of 23 category 1 (immediate hazard) footway defects were identified and fixed on Adelaide/Harrison Terrace. In addition, you will probably recall the damage caused last winter when the frost heave was so bad that we had to put up warning signs on the footways because they were in a dangerous condition. The number of defects and the frost damage indicate that the problem is more extensive than a few loose bricks and this is what has brought the site near the top of the list for more major repair work.

The existing blocks have been in place for something in the region of 115 years. Many of them are cracked or broken, and many have been removed (either broken or stolen) over the years and the resulting gaps filled with bitmac surfacing. Whilst it is possible to take up and relay block paving, there will be insufficient blocks to be able to reinstate the whole street and we are then left with the problem of either trying to match them with a modern equivalent or accepting that there are insufficient reusable blocks to reconstruct the whole footway.

For the time being, we will continue with the safety inspections and carry out repairs of the defects which are found. We have to do this as part of our duty to maintain under s41 of the Highways Act 1980. In the meanwhile, we will try to source either replacement blocks from the same period, or an equivalent modern block so that we can try to develop an acceptable solution. At some stage, we will need to take up a trial area – possibly the section of Adelaide Terrace from Parkvedras Terrace to Stratton Terrace – and relay the blocks. However our ability to do this is heavily dependent on the availability of replacement blocks for those which are missing or damaged beyond repair.

I will contact you again once we have more information. In the meanwhile, if you have any suggestions as to the way forward, please contact me.

Yours sincerely

Peter Tatlow

Network Manager (West)

Neighbourhood Services

Cornwall Council

Tel: 0300 1234 222

Western Group Centre, Radnor Road, Scorrier, Redruth, TR16 5EH

www.cornwall.gov.uk

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