RESIDENTS in Haydon Wick have criticised the council for quoting long lead times for the repairs they are going to carry out on the areas roads (SA 15 May). I wish to add a further comment on the soft touch that Swindon council is exhibiting towards Thames Water.
In a statement from the council a spokesman said "It's fair to say the re-instatement work wasn't to the standards we would ideally have wanted to see" - a very clear and unambiguous statement which suggests that Swindon Borough Council has an agreed set of standards with which it requires contractors to comply; equally the council spokesman makes it crystal clear that the work undertaken by Thames Water fell below the standard. What is amazing is the spokesman’s next statement in which he says "We (I assume he means SBC) will be resurfacing the pavements and repairing the kerbs and repairs to the road will go ahead after the pavements are finished".
Many of your readers will be bemused as to why the council is simply not instructing Thames Water to redo the works on the basis that their first attempt 'wasn't to the standard we wanted to see'. I'm afraid that there is no 'defence' as suggested by Swindon Borough Council's spokesman - the works should have been done to the highest possible standards and the prevailing weather conditions should have been taken into account.
DES MORGAN Caraway Drive Swindon
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