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Residents want pothole-covered road fixed – but no-one wants to take responsibility

News | Rhys Williams | Published: 16:50, Tuesday April 19th, 2022.
Last updated: 11:58, Wednesday April 20th, 2022
Rebecca and Dean Yearsley stood next to the pothole-covered road entering Kingsmead
Rebecca and Dean Yearsley stood next to the pothole-covered road entering Kingsmead

Nine years ago, Rebecca and Dean Yearsley bought a house on the new Kingsmead estate in Caerphilly.

But nearly a decade after the estate was built by developers Taylor Wimpey, the road leading into it has yet to be claimed.

The road is covered in potholes and residents have grown frustrated – with some suffering damage to their cars.

However, uncertainty surrounds who is actually responsible for the road.

While Taylor Wimpey built the houses, they are not the landowners.

Resident Rebecca Yearsley said: “People’s cars are being damaged. You’re trying to avoid the potholes driving into the estate and then you’ve got a four-tonne truck from Catnic coming towards you.

A puddle formed in one of the potholes in the middle of the road entering the Kingsmead estate
A puddle formed in one of the potholes in the middle of the road entering the Kingsmead estate

“It’s just a matter of time before there is a massive accident. At the end of the day we’ve paid money for our houses. You would expect the roads to be in good condition.

“Until it’s put up to scratch the council can’t adopt it, so we don’t get any grit. If someone was taken ill on the estate and we had heavy snow, ambulances can only drive through so much snow, so people’s lives could be at risk.”

Mrs Yearsley continued: “A woman on the estate has had her car for three or four years and the suspension has had to be replaced and she doesn’t even drive very far.

“But obviously, coming in here three, four times a day, it’s only a matter of time before someone’s coil snaps on their car and who’s going to pay for that then?


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“The roads are not adopted, so who do we go to then? Is the landowner, whoever he or she is, going to fork out for someone’s car to be repaired? I doubt it very much when they can’t even fix the road.”

She added: “No one’s actually taking responsibility and saying ‘look, let’s sit down and sort it out.’

“Communication between the two of them seems to break down and that leaves more than 100 households extremely frustrated.”

Up until 2019, the estate was covered in potholes, unfinished pavements, broken kerb stones and concrete-filled drains – but this was fixed by Taylor Wimpey following a petition signed by 160 residents.

But the issue wasn’t fixed at the entrance to the estate.

A spokesperson for Taylor Wimpey South Wales said: “We acknowledge the residents’ frustrations regarding the state of the front road. As the housebuilder we share their frustrations.  

“We can confirm we have been in discussions with the landowner for a number of years and are committed to working with them and the adopting authority to find a workable solution as soon as possible.”

However when asked, Taylor Wimpey bizarrely couldn’t tell Caerphilly Observer who the landowner actually was.

Caerphilly County Borough Council has been contacted for comment.

First phase of Virginia Park housing development approved

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