Roads to be adopted at Whindyke, Blackhall.

Following years of pressure from myself and residents, drains on the Whindyke estate in Blackhall Colliery have recently been brought up to an adoptable standard and roads on the estate are expected to be adopted for maintenance by Durham County Council by August, bringing to an end years of uncertainty and inconvenience for residents.

I was at a meeting yesterday of the Central & East planning committee at county hall to speak on a couple of planning applications affecting our area. At that meeting a report was received from an officer within the highways department confirming that the problem of unadopted roads and drains at Whindyke should be resolved by late summer, once the council is satisfied that the infrastructure on the estate is of a sufficient standard to enable them commit to maintaining it in future.

Because of the nature of the estate's development some years ago the roads and drains at Whindyke were effectively private roads, and therefore responsibility for any repairs and maintenance fell to individual residents. However, once the roads are adopted by the council this responsibility will be fulfilled at public expense and the council will maintain damaged roads and drains on behalf of residents.