Eyes down for more investment in unmade streets

A walk to the bingo will be a lot smoother for pensioners in Brotton and Lingdale thanks to Redcar and Cleveland Council's £1million additional investment to tackle unmade streets.

Community Campaigner Norma Morris is pictured, left, with Brotton Ward Liberal Democrat Councillors Val Miller, centre, and Kay Walker in one of the unmade streets on the Park at Brotton which could benefit from the funding.

Pensioners in the two East Cleveland villages have given the thumbs-up to the start of work in tackling unadopted streets in an ongoing investment that has already allocated £1.3million to tackle 19 schemes across the Borough.

The Council's Cabinet Chairman Councillor Eric Empson, whose portfolio covers the commitment to target unadopted highways, is delighted with the results - and the promise of more to come.

"We began the three-year programme of improvements in April, 2004 and so far 19 schemes have been completed or are nearing completion," he explained.

"The adoption of these roads has to be a benefit not just to the people living there, but to the whole village or town. We have had positive feedback from every piece of work we've carried out.

"The success of the programme has brought numerous requests from residents across the Borough and a further £1m will be allocated over the next four years to try and meet the demands."

Funding of £250,000 has been provided for works to be undertaken in Brotton and Lingdale during 2007/08 and engineers are in the process of drawing up and prioritising a list of possible schemes to take to consultation with councillors and residents.

Brotton ward councillor Kay Walker, a regular at the Thursday afternoon community bingo at the Village Hall, said: "The work is going to be very popular, not only with pensioners, but also young families."

Councillor Steve Kay, who represents the Lockwood ward, which covers Lingdale, said: "We can also hail the investment as an accident prevention scheme as there have been several senior citizens involved in nasty falls. It's not surprising as they have tried to negotiate treacherous unmade streets, full of potholes and covered with loose material.

"I'm delighted that the people of East Cleveland have been given a real say in how this project has evolved and we're looking for more improvements to come over the next 12 months. No-one can deny they are needed."

To date, streets throughout the Borough have benefited from the scheme, including streets in Redcar, Guisborough, Loftus, Boosbeck, Moorsholm, Aysdalegate, Charltons, Lingdale and Dunsdale.