Conservative Councillors are bringing a motion to Milton Keynes Council calling for quicker adoption of newly developed roads in MK, recognising that many communities are finding unadopted roads an ongoing problem.
When a new area is built, the land that includes roads and footways will still belong to the developer until they are adopted by MK Council. However, the Council will only adopt them if they have been constructed to an acceptable standard.
If a road is not adopted, developers are responsible for the repairs and maintenance of roads, gulley's and streetlights. However, many residents struggle to get developers to agree to repairs. Moreover, it can mean that some services aren’t able to be installed, such as CityFibre broadband.
Some estates such as Oakridge Park have twice missed out on CityFibre due to a number of roads remaining unadopted despite the estate being more than a decade old.
The Conservatives believe there is a real unfairness in the process as residents pay their Council Tax on day 1, yet the areas where they live can go many years without Council repairs and maintenance. Cllrs want to see an investigation undertaken into the number of unadopted roads and streets in MK that have been unadopted for more than 5 years.
They’re also calling for the Council to adopt a policy whereby roads are properly maintained by the developers until they have been adopted, and in some circumstances consider a system of undertaking repairs and charging it back to the developer if they’ve failed to maintain the streets.
Conservative Tattenhoe Councillor, Manish Verma, will bring the motion to Council after concerns were raised with him from residents who lived on unadopted roads.
He said:
“It is unfair on residents who are entitled to services such as road repairs, gully cleaning and road gritting that even though they pay their council tax, they do not receive it.
That is why through this motion, we are committed to making a difference to residents' lives by ensuring that roads are adopted quicker and that developers properly maintain their roads until they have been adopted.”
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