Plans to improve a “dangerous” road junction have been axed, after Cheshire East Council said there had been “no recorded accidents” in the last five years.
A council spokesperson said it no longer planned to change the angle of the junction between Davenport Lane and Spark Lane in Arclid, despite its own officers having recommended the change.
Arclid Parish Council chair Coun Andrew Hollinshead said he had been “chasing” the council to start the work since it was agreed as part of planning permission for the development of the Brereton Grange estate, which was built in 2015.
He said: “The road comes out at a funny angle, and the council was supposed to be making it 90 degrees.
“Morris Homes gave them the ground, and it was ready to be done, but it sounds like the money was used elsewhere.
“We have regularly written and spoken to Cheshire East about it. Sometimes they say they’re doing it, and they’ve got the budget allocated, but then it never arrives.”
Earlier this year, an investigation by Congleton town councillor Robert Douglas revealed that £107,400 earmarked for highways improvements around the estate had been paid to the council by Morris Homes in March 2018.
A document detailing the agreement for the site, said: “Prior to first occupation the developer will complete the provision of a ghost island right-turn lane on the A50 to serve the main access into the site. Reason: in the interests of highway safety and to comply with policy GR9 of the Congleton Local Plan 2005.”
Giving the same reason on the grounds of safety, the agreement also said the developer should complete off-site highway works to the Davenport Lane junction with Spark Lane, which runs between Arclid traffic lights and Walhill Roundabout leading to Congleton Link Road.
It said the work would include “carriageway widening, footways and streetlighting fronting the site on Davenport Lane.”
But eight years on, all the works detailed in the agreement – other than minor improvements to Davenport Lane – are yet to be completed by the council.
Coun Douglas said: “This is a junction I use regularly, and it is not easy getting in or out. Clearly, it needs to be improved. I am highly concerned to discover that it was not progressed.
“According to Cheshire East’s records, that money has been spent. We now need to find out where it was spent and why those improvements within the agreement that should have been completed before the first person moved onto the site, haven’t been made.”
Following a freedom of information request to the council by Coun Douglas, he was told that the money was in a bond held by an independent third party, which Cheshire East could not access.
When asked by Coun Douglas why the improvements to Davenport Lane had not yet been made, a Cheshire East Council spokesperson said that the conditions of the agreement did not specify that the junction would be changed.
They said: “The council will not be using the funding to re-align the junction with Spark Lane, nor does the planning permission require it.
“Following a review of the planning requirements and a review of the safety record of the junction, which has had no recorded accidents in the last five years, it was decided to focus the available funding on undertaking footway, kerbing and streetlighting works to address important accessibility issues on the site.
“This has taken longer than anticipated due to delays with BT, which required the relocation of equipment.”
It added: “The council is now looking to use the remaining funding to address the condition of the road and footway surfacing and we will confirm back to the parish (council) our plans as soon as possible.”
After hearing that the plans had been scrapped, Coun Hollinshead said: “They’re just changing things to suit themselves.
“We only supported that development as a parish council because the junction is dangerous and we thought it was going to be improved as a result.
“The roads are getting busier all the time. It is a real shame.”
