Village councillor threatens to sue water firm on behalf of Manea residents
A Fenland councillor is threatening to demand compensation from Anglian Water after they closed a village road without notice yesterday.
The water firm set up signs on Wimblington Road in Manea stating the road was closed – the closure was expected to last two days – and was the fourth time the road has been closed for the same piece of work.
Villagers were up in arms over the closure, which came without notice and clashed with another closure that affects village drivers at Christchurch.
Cllr Charlie Marks posted asking for residents’ views on his plan to demand compensation from Anglian Water through the small claims court and payable to the parish council to be spent on village facilities.
He said: “OK so today has seen the fourth road notice/road closure by Anglian Water at the same site along Wimblington Road without them carrying out any work again.
“Today's closure was made worse by the lack of warning signage seven days before work commenced this is something I am taking up with Cambridgeshire County Council’s highways’ street works as they issue the permits to shut the road.
“The disruption to villagers and businesses is totally unacceptable as it’s the fourth time with no work being undertaken which I guess will mean a fifth closure in the coming weeks. With still no guarantee this work will be done.”
One resident suggested the small claims action and Cllr Marks asked for people’s views on him making a bid for compensation on behalf of Manea, which he said might help “focus” Anglian Water’s mind on getting the job done.
More than 130 villagers backed this suggestion, however, today Cllr Marks said he has put the compensation bid on hold after learning the road closure had actually been cancelled by highways at short notice yesterday morning.
He said: “I contacted Cambridgeshire Highways yesterday to find out what was happening and was told the council had pulled the road closure permit because the closure would clash with the one on the Christchurch road, where the work has overrun. It should have been completed by Tuesday but hasn’t.
“The problem is there was no notification of the planned closure of Wimblington Road. Anglian Water had not put the warning signs up that they should have done, if they had I would have raised the issue of the roads being closed at the same time.
“As it is the road closure went ahead despite being cancelled because highways did not notify anyone and the traffic management team went ahead with putting the road closed signs up.”
Cllr Marks continued: “I have put the compensation idea on hold for the time being, but if the road is closed for a fifth time and Anglian Water do not do the work, then I will proceed with it.”
The road closure is needed to enable a water connection to a property on Wimblington Road and it will involve working in the middle of the road.
In the meantime, Cllr Marks admitted he was surprised to learn that the traffic management company had tried to reinstate the road closure again this morning, despite the update on it supposedly being cancelled.
Cllr Marks concluded: “It’s unclear as to why the traffic management company tried to reinstate the closure today.
“Anyway, I have now been assured that no further road closure will be undertaken regarding this connection by Anglian Water until the village has been given at least 14 days' notice.
“Thank you to everyone who commented with reference to the small claims against Anglian Water at the moment I will put this on hold and await to see if they manage to carry out the work as advertised.”
