Local resident disputes road condition with Council

Newman Street is an unadopted road

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A local resident has had an ongoing dispute with Rochdale Borough Council about the poor state of a road for two months.

Abid Iqbal, from Rochdale, says the dispute over Newman Street, Smallbridge – which is legally an unadopted piece of land – has been ongoing for around two months. Mr Iqbal has lived on the street for around nine weeks, but says residents who have lived there longer say the street has been like that for a long time.

Unadopted roads do not have to be maintained by the Highway Authority under the Highways Act 1980. Whilst a legal duty to maintain the roads exists, it falls to the owners – usually the owners of the properties fronting the road.

Mr Iqbal said: “The condition of the street and footpath are very poor. My daughter fell where the kerb is over 30cm high, and myself and other residents on the street have damaged our cars whilst reversing as there are no adequate lines. The road has several holes, cracks, and it is uneven.”

“Whenever they go to the council, they get told the street is unadopted and it is out of the Rochdale council area and we can not do anything, but my question is, why are we paying council tax to Rochdale council if it is out of their area?” 

Mr Iqbal added: “I am also in the process of getting a petition signed by the full street to show we are really annoyed and want this mess sorted. The residents are old and fragile, and there are some children: what if they get hurt a lot more seriously?”

Andrew Storey, head of highways at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “As this street is unadopted, it is not the responsibility of the council to maintain it. It is the responsibility of the owners of the properties which front onto the street.

"Council tax helps to pay for the full range of council services, including bin collections, running libraries, the maintenance of our attractive parks and public spaces and the many roads in the borough that are the council’s responsibility.”