Hundreds sign petition for housing firm to pay for damaged village road

Residents are lobbying Wakefield Council to carry out a survey on a road which they say is crumbling because of the volume of HGVs using the stretch.

A petition carrying almost 340 names was recently handed over to the council over the state of Lodge Hill Road in Gawthorpe.

Support your city centre with Wakefield’s first restaurant weekStrata Homes is busy building 68 homes on nearby Holly Approach, and they are being blamed for the increased number of lorries.

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Resident Duncan Smith, who launched the petition and is pictured with Wakefield Council transport cabinet member, Coun Matthew Morley and Ossett ward councillor, Lynn Masterman, says Wakefield Council should now be approaching Strata over the issue and request compensation to fix the road.

He said: “Residents don’t think it fair that local council tax payers should continue to meet the cost of any damage caused by the construction works.

Woman freed from wreckage after cars crash in Wakefield village“Councils can seek to cover the additional expense of repairs and resurfacing.

“Wakefield Council has made temporary repairs to technical defects in the road, but the surface remains very rough and continues to deteriorate.”

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Ossett ward councillor Lynn Masterman agreed saying: “The contractors should be made responsible, they have used that road and the damage is quite substantial. It’s in a mess and I’ve had many complaints.”

The Express contacted Strata Homes Ltd but had not received a response before going to print.