News

During a Hawkinge Gazette investigation into broken street lamps in the village, it was discovered that there are more than 80 unadopted roads in the village, predominantly on the new estates, and some built almost a decade ago are still awaiting adoption by local authority.

Residents living on these roads are finding it hard to discover who is responsible for their upkeep when the roads need repairs or when broken street lamps need to be replaced.

In an attempt to find a solution for those residents who live in these 80 or so roads, the Gazette telephoned Shepway Council and Kent Highways.

They both claimed that unadopted roads were not their responsibility and both suggested we contact the owner of the land by checking ownership through the land registry. This would cost £3 but turned out not to be possible, as the owner could only be found for a building or land, and not a road.

However, during our investigations we were given the name of a person at Kent Highways department in Canterbury who, we were told, could help.

This proved to be the breakthrough we were looking for and the person who we were directed to was both helpful, and fully aware of these problems in the village.

If  your unadopted road needs to be repaired or the street lamp isn't working, you can now avoid being passed from pillar to post and report the matter directly to  Dean Heynes at Kent Highways in Canterbury on 01227 825265.

A helpful Mr Heynes will pass your report to the maintenance contractors for the developers, and the work will be carried out.