Widow wins battle over potholes (From Worcester News)

Widow wins battle over potholes

7:10am Friday 3rd September 2010 in

By David Paine » @davidpaineWN #worcsnews

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A POTHOLED pavement is to be repaired outside a disabled widow’s home after she started legal proceedings against Worcestershire County Council.

Joyce Miller, aged 74, has felt imprisoned but the council initially “refused” to repair the pavement leading to her house in East Close, Wychbold, near Droitwich, because they said they could not afford to do the work.

Mrs Miller, who relies on a walking frame, has found it harder to get out and about to see her friends and go to bingo because of the number of bumps and cracks in the pavement caused by last winter’s big freeze. As a result, she instructed her solicitor to begin legal proceedings, claiming the council’s lack of action endangered her safety and well-being and infringed her human rights as she is unable to leave the house.

Mrs Miller, who had a mastectomy after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 1974 and has lived in East Close since 1982, said: “I just can’t get out. I’m an independent person and while there’s little I can do, what I can I like to do.

“I want to get out and feel like I’m living rather just existing.”

Mrs Miller, a retired office manager and press officer for the BBC, said the only way she can get out at the moment is by hiring a taxi which reverses up to her door. She said: “It’s the only means I can use to get to the shops or see someone. I don’t think this is acceptable.”

Mrs Miller’s husband Stuart, a former BBC radio engineer and parish councillor, died of cancer in March aged 76. Her son and grandchildren live in New Zealand and her sister in Spain.

She said that while she could get friends or neighbours to help her get out, she thought that was unfair on them.

Mrs Miller, who was a caretaker at the village hall for 20 years, while her husband was on the committee for 40, said: “Quite frankly, I don’t believe the council when it says it cannot afford to do these repairs.

“I have paid taxes all my working life and as the council has a legal duty to maintain pavements in good, safe order, I expect the money I have paid to be used for the purpose.”

Jon Fraser, Worcestershire County Council's customer and community manager, said: “Our inspectors went to have a look at the pavement without knowing Mrs Miller's particular needs and, quite correctly, decided that it was in good enough condition not to require intervention.

“Having now been given the full facts and given the exceptional circumstances of this case we have decided to apply a new top surface to that section of pavement which we hope will aid Mrs Miller’s access to the property.”

The pavement is due to be fixed by Monday.

Comments(14)

Lizzie R says...
8:15am Fri 3 Sep 10

I am confused by the County Council's response to this matter. Mrs Miller was told that repairs couldn't be carried out because there was no money, but Mr Jon Fraser said no repairs were carried out because the pavement was in a good enough condition, regardless of whether money was available or not.
But now they are going to repair the pavement, not because of money issues or the condition of the pavement, but because of Mrs Miller's circumstances.
It does beg the question whether the highways department know what they are doing, or what they say, and it doesn't instill any confidence in the public in the way the County Council look after our roads and pavements.
Apart from Mrs Miller's circumstances, was the pavement now deemed to be in a bad condition to require repairs and if so then why did the person who inspected the pavement say everything was ok? And what is the assessment process that determines if a pavement needs repairing or not as I know lots of areas in Worcester where pavements are in an awful state. Can Mr Fraser shed any light please?
My mother almost fell over because of the poor state of a pavement and still no repairs were carried out even though she reported the incident to the highways department.