AS I write this, contractors on behalf of Persimmons - and with the agreement of Somerset County Council Highways - have been preparing and digging a trench the length of Heathfield Drive in Monkton Heathfield.

It is a residential road which also has bungalows for elderly residents. The road ends in a cul-de-sac.

The other end is the junction of the A3259. Work started in September 2020 and may continue for several weeks yet!

The reason for the road works is the ever-increasing Persimmons development at Hartnell’s Farm.

It is Persimmons that have decided it needs the removal of more waste, apparently due to the continuing expansion of the development.

So now we have to contend with a 10-inch sewage pipe by way of sinking it into a trench that will travel the whole length underneath Heathfield Drive to join up at Hartnell’s Farm to service an additional 70+ new houses.

There are questions that many residents need answering.

Like, why our road? Let alone the lack of consideration, inconvenience, noise and loss of parking.

Then there is the damage to the road surface such pot holes and cracks appearing due to the continued use of plant machinery and 25 tonne trucks full of spoil and aggregate!

There is growing resentment.

Why did Highways allowed such work to be carried out which is of no benefit to the residents?

What were the alternatives, and how was Persimmons allowed to continue expanding the development knowing it would require additional sewage drainage through a residential street, without considering a better alternative as opposed to dumping the problem on the residents of Heathfield Drive?

WANT TO WRITE? Click here to send us a letter

I am now told that Heathfield Drive, thanks to SCC Highways, could be temporarily closed to traffic due to this trench work.

That being the case, apparently there was a suggestion by the contractors that all residents may be asked to move their vehicles to the village hall car park!

Hardly a safe and secure option.

We have elderly and infirm neighbours. I cannot imagine some of them able to walk to the village hall to get to their vehicles!

Access would also be required for ambulances and care workers who attend our elderly residents in their bungalows.

Would there be provision for emergency vehicles to get through? I hope this is only a consideration.

Either way, there should be some form of compensation from Persimmons or SCC Highways.

You can start with paying for council tax for every month the residents have had to put up with this disruption.

Let alone the total lack of decency and consideration in simply failing to contact the residents to apologise.

So let this be a warning to those who may find themselves in a similar situation.

There is growing resentment at the way the residents have been treated.

We are still waiting to hear from our local councillors.

Looks like we are on our own. Answers are required.

EAMONN LENISTON
Monkton Heathfield