This week's readers' letter: Use common sense to get the job done

Early last year residents on my street received a letter stating that their street was soon to be disrupted in order to lay a fibre cable and new gas pipes.

At the end of the installation, the pavement was left for several weeks. I raised concern on a number of occasions. During the length of time several paving stones, considered as trip risk, had been marked with yellow X’s, meaning that the paving stones were to be replaced.

According to the council a pavement does not require levelling unless the paving stone is 20mm or more above the next paving stone.

My main stress was that the curb had become higher than the pavement and there was a danger of someone tripping and falling into the road. Mentioning my concern to my neighbour, I was told his grandson had already had a fall because of the curb.

Again, a council inspection of the pavement was carried out, but I noticed he did not look towards the curb until I pointed out my concerns.

While he agreed, he said inspections are carried out by walking along the pavement because the majority of pedestrians do not walk across it.

Having listened to my concern he measured the difference between curb and pavement and found a location where the paving was lower than the curb in excess of 20mm.

The next day a council work team arrived, removed the 20mm hazard broken paving stones and filled the spaces with tarmac. Ignoring trip hazards less than 20mm, the curb hazard and flat laying broken slabs.

When the council is disturbing so much paving, why don’t they do the job professionally and include the removal of minor faults as well?

What can also be seen is an X on the only paving stone being lower than the curb by 20mm and although I had continually voiced my concern to the council, and the contractors, the X did not appear until after the broken paving stones had been replaced by tarmac.

While the council was doing the work, I complained about the neglect of the pavement curb tripping concern. They said they had received no instructions.

So on the council’s completion of the job we have tarmac to the correct level of the curb, and the other paving stones lower than the curb, as the photograph shows.

Two days later an on site visit was called for between CityFibre, Heneghans and the council. The council, now the trip hazards over 20mm had been removed, insisted that the job had been completed and stopped Heneghans doing anymore.

I rang Heneghans and CityFibre for proper clarification as to astatement in their original letter to residents saying that the pavement would be replaced to a condition it was before the work was started. They said the council’s ruling cannot be overturned.

The work above is happening in lots of places. Some work had also been carried out on the opposite side of the road to my house and I saw a resident take a very bad tumble and he walked off limping. I went to see what he fell over. I saw nothing higher than 20mm and yet he must have complained because the council arrived the next day and re-laid two paving stones.

Why do we have to have an accident before action is taken to level areas in which work has already been carried out?

Monty Cuthbert

Bessacarr Lane, Bessacarr