Concerns Over Icy Roads On Market Harborough Estate

A councillor says it is unacceptable that key roads on a Market Harborough estate are left untreated during icy and snowy conditions.

Safety concerns have been raised about slippery surfaces on the Wellington Place estate during the recent cold spell.

Different housebuilders are responsible for sections of roads which have not yet been adopted by the council.

Three firms say they will not provide gritting, arguing residential roads would not ordinarily be subject to local authority gritting.

However, David Page, county councillor for Market Harborough West & Foxton, says the developers have a duty of care to residents:

There are calls for gritting to take place on key roads 

A Taylor Wimpey spokesperson said: “We are aware of the concerns residents have raised regarding icy conditions at Wellington Place and apologise for any inconvenience.”

“Residential roads would not ordinarily be subject to local authority gritting. We therefore do not provide a gritting service.

“We recognise this can be challenging for residents and encourage everyone to take care in snowy or icy conditions.”

David Dodge, Operations Director at William Davis Homes, said: “Across all of our developments, our approach to gritting is informed by the policy of the local authority which will eventually adopt and maintain the roads.

“Leicestershire County Council’s policy is to not carry out planned preventative gritting on estate or residential roads, so the roads in question will not be gritted once adopted – as such, we follow this approach prior to adoption.

“We take our duty of care to residents and visitors to Wellington Place seriously and, during freezing weather, we make daily assessments on all our sites as to whether any unadopted estate roads pose a significant hazard, such as black ice.

“I have been in direct correspondence with Cllr Page to explain our approach and would be more than happy to attend any meeting which is organised to discuss this further.”

Davidsons Homes have been approached for comment.