Forum Topic

All these closures of Brentford's main high road is because the utility companies haven't allowed for expansion of the explosion of flats which now dominate the area; hence the same stench at the bus stop by the two, now demolished pubs, just round the corner from Kew Bridge - an area mentioned on maps as 'the hollows'.  I know what I think but I'll keep that for another day.If it ain't the gasworks at Ferrymans Creek - the old GPO building which must have had proper flushing toilets but didn't use a lot of gas - it's Thames Water at Brentford Lock - which didn't really have proper pipes in place to deal with all the plopsies from these flats but were loathe to appear to be giving these flats no more than open defecation.  It really gets my goat is when these utility companies dig up the road they just patch it up with a bit of road sellotape and when the weather turns the road crumples, the pot-holes appear and then the road has to be completed resurfaced courtesy of tax payers monies - whether locally or through TfL  - and not from the profits of the utility companies.Why can't local authorities, with some joined-up thinking, put a bit of 'risk assessment' to all the utility companies when granting the building of all these flats and if one of the utility company promises something they can't deliver then, if they have to dig up the road, they have to resurface the whole area to the standard they found it at in the first place?One question I would ask gas company is why there are so many 'gas leaks' at that area in the road so near to the petrol station?Surely, councils should be looking at all the options before granting proper planning permission to all these properties and then keep a tight rein on all the companies, utility companies included, who renegade on the deal?  Afterall, developing an area should be a 360 degree experience and not just a quick buck pocketed by some peoples.

Xanthe West ● 4715d

Adam et al Management of utilities repair works isn’t part of my portfolio but I do try to chivvy things along as and when possible, particularly when the works cause delays to buses (or your good self!).Unfortunately, what we had hoped was going to be a quick fix before the start of the autumn school term didn’t turn out to be.  Earlier this week we received the following update from National Grid Gas:"We have located three separate escapes but our “quick fix” method of injecting the leaking joints has not worked. Therefore we have to excavate right around the joints and encapsulate them to seal the leaks. This will involve a large amount of shuttering and excavation work and so I am afraid we are looking at approximately 1 week’s duration"These updates would normally appear in relevant media sites (including BrentfordTW.com) but this doesn’t appear to have happened on this occasion.Our Streetworks manager has asked National Grid to use accelerated set concrete to allow the carriageway to be restored to full width as early as possible and to display information boards on site with the message “concrete curing”.  We accept that a common complaint from the public about street and road works is an apparent lack of activity on site, however in this case there were workers in evidence each time I passed the site.Due to TfL’s “gating” of inbound traffic on the A4 for the Paralympics, motorists wouldn’t have saved any time diverting from the A315 on this occasion.  Hopefully the final reinstatement of the gas main repair site is now in progress.CCF

Chris Calvi-Freeman ● 4717d

Lo and behold, temporary lights for works due for completion by 4th September remain in place tonight, over a week since the work started.Bearing in mind I've never seen any labour working on site I presume this means the lights will remain in place until Monday 10th at the earliest.It is clearly causing havoc for the emergency services, who use the road all the time, so presumably response times to emergencies locally are being significantly affected.Not exactly a pleasant environment for the residents of the various old and new developments along this stretch either.When I last inspected the roadworks on Wednesday evening, it appeared all that was left to do was to fill in three large holes (each around 45cm deep) and resurface the road.  I might wander down later, but I wonder if anything further has been done ?.These are situations when Officers should be able to use this forum simply to provide a factual update on the reason why the works have over-run, anticipated completion time etc.Because otherwise, sat here as a resident, all I ever see on the streets of Hounslow are highway works running considerably behind schedule, being undertaken by labour who simply don't work a full day, and who are under absolutely no pressure (or threat) from the Council to get things finished on time or face the consequences.Now what I see may well, as I know only too well, be completely wrong, and it's why I try to reserve judgement because I know how frustrating it must be if the likes of CCF are running around like headless chickens behind the scenes doing their very best, and then some resident sat on their backside has a public moan.However, if a Council fails to engage, perception is all the residents have to go on...

Adam Beamish ● 4717d