Winsford man landed with £1.5k garage bill due to raised manholes

Steven Bancroft and his wife Christine bought their house on Keepmoat’s Woodford Grange development in Hebden Green in February 2021.

The couple bought it off plan, so expected to have to put up with some disruption, and accepted the roads would be the last thing to be finished.  

In early October 2023, the 46-year-old noticed a big workforce on the estate raising up the manhole covers and grids, which usually means the roads are about to be resurfaced.The manholes and grids were raised in early October but the road still hasn't been resurfaced (Image: Steven Bancroft)

He and other residents were delighted, and when they got letters asking them to park their cars on their own driveways on October 18 and 25, they naturally thought the roads were about to be sorted once and for all.

But five months later, this still hasn’t been done.

Now the raised ironwork is causing huge problems on the estate, including damaging cars, and making it all but impossible for larger vehicles to pass.  

Steven said some of the ironwork is raised eight to 10 inches above the current road surface (Image: Steven Bancroft)

“Some of these manhole covers are raised by eight or 10 inches,” Steven said.  

“The postman took the exhaust off his van on one recently, and I had to fork out £1,500 for suspension on my old car, which I’ve now had to swap for one with better ground clearance.”

Keepmoat responded to residents’ concerns by putting sand around the manhole covers, and when this quickly washed away, banked around them with tarmac so they could be driven over slowly.

Steven and Christine Bancroft bought their house off plan in February 2021 (Image: Steven Bancroft)

Steven said this has now largely worn away too.  

He added: “They’ve even put barriers around some of the worst ones, which means cars have to mount the kerbs to get round them, which is dangerous.

“Emergency services vehicles needing access to parts of the estate would have no chance. So apart from damage to people cars, it’s just not safe."

Steven contact Keepmoat, who told him the delay to the resurfacing work is down to Cheshire West and Chester Council's (CWAC) highways department. 

Steven said the temporary ramps, after five months, are beginning to disintegrate (Image: Steven Bancroft)

As CWAC will eventually adopt the roads, they have a say in the materials used to surface them, but Keepmoat said they haven't responded to requests for a decision.

However, when Steven contacted CWAC’s highways department, they said they were still waiting for information allowing them to sign off on more basic infrastructure, like sewers, which means the road surfacing is not yet on their agenda.

Steven added: “I just don’t know who to believe.

“This has been going on far too long, and wherever I turn, I’m just getting nowhere.”

Peter Barlow, regional managing director at Keepmoat Northwest, said: “As part of Keepmoat's work at the Woodford Grange development in Winsford, we are prioritising the final surfacing of the roads and footpaths in partnership with Cheshire West Highways.

“We are working closely with Cheshire West Highways to mitigate resident concerns."

A spokesman for CWAC’s highways department said: “We are in the process of arranging a meeting with the developer, Keepmoat, to address the raised manhole covers and final surfacing issues to help progress the works on site.”