Chris White (County Councillor for Clarence and St Peter’s Wards) has slammed Eurovia over the repeated failures to resurface Burnham Road or communicate with residents and councillors
Chris said: ‘I have been contacted by numerous residents who have now been told twice that the road was due to be resurfaced and that they should move their cars. On the first occasion many residents did only to find that the work had been postponed for no reason.
‘On Saturday I visited the road and watched while Eurovia, the HCC highways contractor which also owns the main contractor Ringway, did botched preparation repairs to some but not all of the numerous potholes.’
Yesterday Chris received an email from Mr Robert Thompson at Eurovia which apologised for the inconvenience to residents but admitted that Eurovia won’t now revisit until late October. The email pointedly refused to apologise for not engaging with councillors on the matter.
It also claimed that the reason why some of the potholes were not repaired was the problem with – parked cars.
Chris said: ‘Eurovia has attempted to pull the wool over the eyes of the county council, elected members and residents by claiming that their poor quality work was due to parked cars. In fact I took a photo while they were in the street clearly showing a giant pothole that they had not been touched and further holes in the middle of the road.
‘The message also made it clear that they were not prepared to keep local councillors informed or share the letters they are sending out to residents.’
Chris will now be referring the contract to the county council’s auditors and is asking for an analysis of payments to Eurovia across the county, as well as the management protocols for communicating with councillors and the public. He is also seeking clarification as to why the apparent competitor to Ringway is also its owner – thereby removing any real element of price competition.
‘This is a scandalous misuse of our money and I want answers to my questions without delay – as well as a proper and early repair job on this road. I am perfectly prepared to visit Mr Thompson in his cosy office in Peterborough to put across the concerns of local people and councillors.’
ENDS
Contact:
Chris White 01727 845300
Robert Thompson
Contracts Manager
Eurovia Specialist Treatments
North Street, Stilton,
Peterborough
Cambridgeshire
PE7 3RP
