Unadopted Roads

[Divi]

Roads on new developments that have not been taken over by the council as development not yet finished, said roads are not gritted by council despite residents paying council tax.I live on a new development in close proximity to two others..Bett/Stewart Milne/Charles Church. The only builder who grits roads is Bett, they do the roads and the pavements, the other two do nowt.
Are they legally or morally required to grit roads in bad weather.

[NewHomeExpert]

Roads on new developments that have not been taken over by the council as development not yet finished, said roads are not gritted by council despite residents paying council tax.I live on a new development in close proximity to two others..Bett/Stewart Milne/Charles Church. The only builder who grits roads is Bett, they do the roads and the pavements, the other two do nowt.
Are they legally or morally required to grit roads in bad weather.

If there is an accident on land owned by someone else the landowner is resposible and could be liable if he has been negligent.
Not cleaning and gritting roads would come under this duty of care. However, you should ask yourself whether the council would grit an estate road anyway. unless it is on a bus route most don't.

You may find your home is on a consortium development. Each builder will be responsible for the roads they constructed but the main access roads will be finished byc the consortium. No builder will want to pay for raods to be finished until all their homes are sold.

[Divi]

Our council isn't too bad on gritting roads on estates. I understand the road adoption issues which is fair enough,why pay to finish roads that are being used by diggers/HGVs etc, residents have accepted that, it is a mite galling that if one developer can do it then others should. You leave the house and drive 500 yards on a gritted road straight onto ungritted icy road, bad enough through the day but at night in poor visibility the unwary driver who doesn't realise that not all the road has been gritted comes a cropper, hence we were short one lamp post. Mums walking kids to school on slippy frozen pavements, obviously there is no goodwill from some builders.

[NewHomeExpert]

Our council isn't too bad on gritting roads on estates. I understand the road adoption issues which is fair enough,why pay to finish roads that are being used by diggers/HGVs etc, residents have accepted that, it is a mite galling that if one developer can do it then others should. You leave the house and drive 500 yards on a gritted road straight onto ungritted icy road, bad enough through the day but at night in poor visibility the unwary driver who doesn't realise that not all the road has been gritted comes a cropper, hence we were short one lamp post. Mums walking kids to school on slippy frozen pavements, obviously there is no goodwill from some builders.

I agree.

I had another thought on this and as the road are not yet adopted or fully constructed, they are in effect "work in progress" and would therefore be covered by the Health and Safety at Work Act.

If there was an accident the HSE would be called in. It is highly probably that the builder would be fined for not taking 'reasonable precautions' to prevent accidents, gritting the road, safety signage being two examples.

Perhaps if you wrote to the builder(s) pointing this out they would grit all the roads and fully complete the footpaths to limit their liability should an accident occur.

[Divi]

I have no issue here with Betts, I do know a number of Stewart Milne residents have for the past two winters asked/pleaded/threatened, not made much difference.

[NewHomeExpert]

It is just not that all house builders aren't the same, all site managers aren't the same too!

Some care a great deal for their customers and the homes they build.
Most of the time it is not appreciated by anyone!