LETTER: Councils ride roughshod over our little village

As a resident of Ackworth for almost 50 years I find myself totally frustrated with both the parish council and Wakefield Council.

Despite several requests over the last few years, and coverage by the Express, the subject of blocked road grates - which causes water to run like rivers down the roads whenever there are periods of heavy rain, making the roads extremely dangerous - rolls on and the vast majority of road grates are still blocked.

The council came out following a past article and in its wisdom cleaned the one grate mentioned, even though almost every gate in the village appears to be blocked. What a waste of time and money to get the wagon out to do one grate. I have raised the issue yet again at last month’s parish council meeting and still nothing has been done.

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The road repairs are at best shabby and at worst unsafe and unsightly. There are direction signs missing on the roundabout near the Beverley Arms - all that remains are bent posts which look like nobody cares or can be bothered.

A crash barrier on Doncaster Road remains unrepaired but we have been told that until there is another crash barrier in need of repair in this area it will remain as it is - leaving both pedestrians and inhabitants on Denton Gardens in danger should a vehicle crash into the barrier in the same area as it is already greatly weakened.

The reason this barrier was originally erected was due to a vehicle careering off the road into one of the gardens in Denton Gardens.

The picture (on the right of these pages) is an example of how things get left - the monument has been like this for months following a vehicle running into it.

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Hundreds of new houses have been thrown up causing severe traffic congestion and a rise in air pollution, which is already recorded at high level in the Barnsley Road area.

It seems to me that Wakefield Council just rides roughshod over this village and doesn’t care about some residents’ views.

What was once a beautiful village is now a shadow of its former self.

Bev Richmond, via email