34, Bridlington St.

Bristol SW6 4GG

The Editor,
The Bristol News,
17, Cornish Street,
Bristol BR7 3NX

9th March 2014

Dear Editor,
I am writing on behalf of the Bridlington Street Residents Association to complain about the works being
performed in this street by the City Council. I would like to bring to readers attention the following.
Some months ago residents in Bridlington Street received a letter from the City Council informing them that works
needed to be carried out in this street in order to repair sewers and lay new electric cables; in this letter residents
were assured that such works would cause minimal disturbance and would only last some three weeks. However,
this is now the sixth week these works have been going on for and there is no sign that the works are nearing their
end. In fact, unofficially some residents have been told that the works will take a further ten weeks to be
completed.
These road works are causing major inconvenience to residents, which is why we have decided to write to your
newspaper and tell you about the reasons for our complaint.
First of all, the main problem is the pollution and damage caused by the City Councils works. The dirt and dust
from the digging and the lorries has affected all our homes. Furthermore, the noise from the works machines
during the day is deafening. Some residents have had to receive psychological and medical attention.
Secondly, our street, which used to be safe and quiet, has become dangerous both in daytime- from the moving
machines- and at night- because of unfenced holes in the pavement. The other day an old lady broke her ankle
when she stepped into a large, unmarked crack in a broken slab of the street pavement. Moreover, children can no
longer be allowed out to play in our street because of the road works machinery. Our children are obliged to play at
home in case there is an accident.
Finally, the road works machinery is frequently left parked outside our houses at midday, which means residents
cannot take their cars out of the garage or come and park their vehicles outside their own house while they have
lunch with their family before returning to work. On most occasions residents have complained to the works
manager but no apparent notice has been taken and the problem continues.
Recently, representatives of this Residents Association arranged and had a meeting with the City Council in order
to raise these issues and make a formal complaint. Nevertheless, more than two weeks have passed and the
situation has not changed. To make matters worse, today residents have been warned that our street will be closed
to traffic indefinitely. As a result, we cannot reach our houses by car and living conditions have become
intolerable.
On behalf of all residents, I suggest that this matter should be investigated at once and a suitable solution be found.
It is totally unacceptable that these Council road works should be carried out in this way and with no end in sight.
We believe that a new contractor should be brought in and that the works should be performed under the general
on-site supervision of a Council officer, who should be responsible for ensuring that the repairing of the sewers
and the laying of the new electric cables should be finished within the next two weeks and with no further
inconvenience.
I thank you in advance for publishing this letter in your newspaper and trust that the City Council will
now solve this problem, which has become unbearable for residents in Bridlington Street.
Yours faithfully,

Raymond R. Orkney
President, Bridlington Residents Association