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Pay up to find out why your road is being closed

17 January 2008

EDITORIAL - herts.advertiser@archant.co.uk

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RESIDENTS are having to pay to find out why their road is going to be closed.

People living in Inkerman Road, St Albans, have been advised that Three Valleys Water contractor Balfour Beatty will be closing their road for two days from Monday.

A sign put up in their road says anyone wanting further details should call an 0870 national rate number.

But after calls from concerned residents ward councillor Michael Green rang the number last Saturday to check it out for himself - only to find himself cut off after two minutes. He immediately called back and was told by Balfour Beatty, after a longer wait, that such information was not available at the weekend and he would have to call back during working hours.

He said: "This is clearly unacceptable. It's bad enough that residents are being asked to ring a helpline that couldn't be less helpful. They certainly should not have to pay extra by phoning a national rate number." He added that Three Valleys needed to have a serious discussion with Balfour Beatty about its arrangements and that if improvements were not made they should find a new contractor.

A spokesperson for Three Valleys said that their expectation was that when customers contacted Balfour Beatty they would be provided with accurate and up-to-date information. As a result of the complaints, the two parties were reviewing the level of customer service on this occasion.

Three Valleys contractors have dug large trenches in a Harpenden road which was completely resurfaced less than a year ago.

They are replacing old water mains in Roundwood Lane where a rebuilt surface was completed last February. Both Herts Highways and Three Valleys have claimed that neither knew the mains would have to be replaced when the resurfacing was being done. This was despite the fact that the mains are 90-years-old and had more than 20 leaks between 1999 and 2004.
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This sounds par for the course with Three Valleys.   The next lane to ours has been closed by them since November forcing all the rtaffic down our narrow lane causing blocked drains from damaged banks and verges, on 28th January they are going to close the other exit from our village for at least five weeks and, guess what - an 0845 number to call!   We discovered some weeks ago that the closures would happen as my husband, as a district councillor, receives weekly lists from Essex County Council but these are fairly inaccurate - they, too, have major problems getting accurate information from Three Valleys!   (Afraid I didn't think to ask whether they were calling an 084/087 number!)   Oh, and don't bother trying to report a leak in a country area as they can't cope if you don't have a road name or a postcode!

Basically, Three Valleys are an appalling organisation, I won't go into detail about the major problems we had when they replaced our stopcock and left me imprisoned in the house because they don't refill the holes they dig and are happy to leave them open for a week or more!  It took the regulator and MP to resolve the issue but it seems they are still as bad as ever.   Are water companies covered by the COI guidelines?   They really should be as they are a public monopoly in that we cannot choose our water company.

Sorry, very little of this is telephone no related but I feel better for saying it!

It seems the anti 0870 pressure is getting too hot for some of the serial abusers.  I suppose at least we must congratulate Balfour Beatty for caring enough about their public image to change their ways.

Let us hope that Three Valleys Water may in due course also do the same thing.