A HELE Park resident has spoken out about the continuing uncertainty over the adoption of roads at the Newton Abbot development, saying residents have been left in limbo, some for more than a decade.

Sally Simpson has lived on the estate since it was first developed and says she is frustrated that, 14 years after moving into her home, the roads are still not fully adopted.

‘We moved in 14 years ago, so you’d expect the roads to have been adopted fairly swiftly’, she said.

‘Fourteen years down the line, it’s a bit tricky.

‘We are still being told it’s “in process”. It is just an endless cycle’.

The situation has also raised questions for residents about who is responsible for maintaining different parts of the estate.

‘We don’t really know who owns the roads anymore or who we are supposed to go to when there’s a problem’, Ms Simpson said.

‘There are different developers, different arrangements and residents are just caught up in the middle of it’.

The issue has been raised with Devon County Council, with former county councillor Phil Bullivant continuing to press for progress.

On September 3, Mr Bullivant, a district and town councillor, presented the county council’s leader with a petition containing approximately 300 signatures relating to the non-adoption of roads at Hele Park.

Mr Bullivant said he had no objection to the development itself, but wanted to see the outstanding issues resolved.

‘I’ve got no issues about the development, other than, we’d like it finished’, he said.

He also highlighted issues he says are affecting residents, including defects in roads, absence of the proper shelters for bus stops, footpaths which have not been put in place and much more besides.

Another concern is the impact that non-adoption can have when homeowners come to sell their properties.

Mr Bullivant said conveyancers can require homeowners to take out an insurance policy because the roads have not been adopted.

‘That isn’t cheap’, he said.

He also said the private status of the bulk of the roads means certain measures and facilities, including traffic management and grit and dog waste bins, cannot be provided in the same way as they would be on publicly maintained highways.

Devon County Council says the position at Hele Park varies between the different phases of the development.

Some areas are already covered by highway adoption agreements and are progressing through inspections, remedial works, drainage arrangements and maintenance.

However, other areas do not yet have highway adoption agreements in place.

The council says this means there is currently no formal process through which those roads can be offered for adoption and become publicly maintainable highways.

Outstanding issues include developers entering into or completing adoption agreements, remedial works being brought up to the required standard, and, in some areas, adjoining development phases progressing so roads can be connected to the existing publicly maintained network.

The council also says the adoption or vesting of drainage infrastructure by the relevant water and sewerage companies is an issue.

As such, Devon County Council said it could not support the requested 25 per cent reduction in council tax being asked for by the petition, saying the adoption status of a road does not provide a basis for reducing council tax.

The authority says it will continue to work with developers, water and sewerage companies and other stakeholders, while carrying out inspections and reviewing remedial works where the requirements for adoption have been met.

For Ms Simpson, however, the length of time involved remains difficult to understand.

‘There have been repeated works and disruption, but there is still no end date and no accountability’, she said.

‘Everybody is just left in a bit of limbo.

‘It is such a mess, and it really should not have been allowed to get to this point’, she added.