Management of street works set to improve
Anyone wishing to carry out works with an impact on the highway in the borough will soon have to apply for a permit as Telford & Wrekin Council takes greater control over the streetworks process.
The present notification system does not allow the Council to exercise full control over the works that take place on the highway, reducing the potential efficiency that could often be possible.
Current laws place a duty on Highway Authorities to do their best to coordinate the execution of works on the highways. However, as it stands promoters only have to notify the authority with details of intended work.
Under the new Permit Scheme the Promoter, the person or company wishing to undertake work on or near the highway, will need to apply for a permit.
On gaining a permit the company or person carrying out the work will then need to carry out the specified activity, at the specified location, between the dates shown and adhering to any conditions which are attached to the Permit.
The new Permit Scheme will allow the Council to better manage roadworks on the highway giving far greater power and control to ensure works are carried out in a way that minimises disruption to the highway network and in turn to road users.
The Permit Scheme will be a chargeable service, providing income to the Council to allow the coordination of the new scheme to be fully resourced and administered.
Councillor Angela McClements, cabinet member for Communities, Regeneration and Transport, said: “Being able to take greater control of our network and carry out work on the highways more efficiently will benefit the Council greatly and have a positive impact on road users.
“I’ve often heard comments from people wondering why works take place one week by one company, then a few weeks later another company is carrying out works in the exact same place.
“This new Permit Scheme will allow us to tackle incidences such as this more effectively to try and reduce the occurrence of them, which I’m sure road users will be pleased to hear. We can coordinate our own work and that of other companies and be much more efficient in our approach.
“This will also bring in much needed income to the authority through the payment of permit fees, meaning we can implement the scheme with the full resources to manage it effectively.”
The new Telford & Wrekin Permit Scheme will commence on 1 June 2016, following consultation that is currently taking place to fine tune the details of the scheme with those people and companies who most regularly need to carry out work on the highway.
