Councillors Malcolm Wade and Stephanie Osborne blast ‘incessant’ roadworks as SGN undertakes repairs in Dibden Purlieu

WATERSIDE residents are fed up with “incessant” road works, local councillors say, with emergency gas repairs the latest to blight the area.

Urgent work to replace pipes at the junction of North Road and Noads Way in Dibden Purlieu began in August. Gas company SGN says the “essential” work is being carried out to prevent further disruption to the network, which has experienced “a history of leaks”.

County, district and parish councillor for Hythe and Dibden, Cllr Malcolm Wade, told the A&T: “Dibden Purlieu and its residents have been subjected to an excessive amount of highway disruption for around 12 months, starting with the closure of Beaulieu Road by the Heath roundabout by SGN, then the government-sponsored, badly planned and poorly executed cycle route – which disrupted the shopping centre over the Christmas period and lasted for six months in the centre of the village.

“Now we have SGN digging up North Road for months, in addition to various smaller road works on Beaulieu Road and the surrounding streets, all in this period. These have resulted in delays with multiply temporary traffic light systems, lost business to the shops – which Hampshire County Council would not pay compensation for, when I asked.

“At one point Oak Road was to be blocked, meaning the car park was inaccessible, which I managed to stop. Now North Road has traffic lights, a long hole in the ground – which on many days nobody is working in – which understandably annoys local residents, who are putting up with the roadworks outside their homes.”

He added: “It is incredibly frustrating for local people; the delays and disruption has been continuously ongoing. I plead with Hampshire County Council, SGN and the various other utility companies to give Dibden Purlieu a break from continuous road works, let the businesses have a proper Christmas trading period and local people a break from the disruption of the incessant roadworks.”

Cllr Stephanie Osborne, a district and parish councillor for Dibden, called the situation “dire”. She told the A&T the road had been seemingly dug up and left, with no workmen or work being carried out.

“The residents are very angry, it’s just going on and on. Because there is no footpath you’ve got to walk in the road – it’s very dangerous.”

She added the area was “chaos” with cars and vans unable to pass and said a car transporter had got stuck when trying to turn due to it having no room to pass on the narrow roads.

A spokesperson for SGN told the A&T: “We’re close to completing this section of network upgrades. Our engineers have further replacement work to carry out near Beaulieu Road [so] for everyone’s safety, temporary traffic lights will be in operation around this work area. Our expected end date for this work is Friday 25th October.”