HAVING endured three years of disruption associated with the development of the 110-strong Medstead Farm housing estate off Brislands Lane, Four Marks, residents are still waiting for remedial works to be carried out to return their road to a fit and safe state of repair.

And residents’ spokesman Evelyn Cooper declared: “We have had enough!”

Speaking on behalf of neighbouring householders, the Brislands Lane resident has been chasing developers Persimmon Homes South Coast (trading as Charles Church), Hampshire Highways and East Hampshire District Council’s enforcement team to try to get some action in honouring the section 278 works designed, as a condition of planning consent, to make repairs and improvements following the use of the lane as an access for construction vehicles.

It has been a long drawn-out catalogue of cajoling and complaint for the residents, beginning in the autumn of 2014 when work started on the development of the 10-acre site off Brislands Lane, bringing increased flooding caused by water run-off and a five-week road closure which took its toll on day-to-day living for residents.

From the start, work had to be carried out on Brislands Lane to enable heavy trucks to access a temporary entrance into the Medstead Farm site, and locals have had to endure traffic, mud and mayhem ever since.

While construction of the housing estate ended some 18 months ago, leaving this tiny rural lane pitted with potholes and broken down banks, the promised remedial work has yet to materialise.

According to Mrs Cooper, while the site access has now been closed to vehicles, to provide pedestrian and emergency access only, Brislands Lane residents are still waiting for their road to be repaired and resurfaced, a new footpath to be installed linking Medstead Farm to Lymington Bottom, the banks and hedgerows to be reinstated and, key to it all, improvements made to the junction with Lymington Bottom and Blackberry Lane.

“We feel we have been ridden roughshod over and continue to be so,” said Mrs Cooper.

Battling to help the residents, councillors are continuing to push for the work to be done, but there appears to be an impasse between the developer and Hampshire Highways over a new build-out at the bottom of Blackberry Lane which, county councillor Mark Kemp-Gee says, is “too sharp” and needs to be modified.

While Hampshire Highways approved the design of the build-out, which was put in place by the developer, according to residents, the reality is that the school bus has difficulty negotiating it without crossing to the wrong side of the road. But there appears to be conflict over who is responsible for putting things right. And residents are of the opinion that until it this sorted out the rest of the work has ground to a standstill.

After 18 months, there may be a light at the end of the tunnel. Commenting on the situation, Rob Humby, executive member for environment and transport at Hampshire County Council, explained: “The works associated with the Medstead Farm scheme are being delivered in two phases. The first phase was completed in 2014 and the second phase, which includes the verge and carriageway reinstatement works, and minor junction alterations, is due to be carried out in the near future.

“We have asked for an urgent meeting with the developers to confirm the timetable for works and we continue to press for the works to be completed.”

However, unlike residents living in the area, Mr Humby believes the Blackberry Lane build-out is acceptable and denies it has been a factor in the tardy nature of the exercise, citing the need to put in an electric supply to the new development as the spanner in the works.

He said: “We have reviewed the Blackberry Lane build-out and are satisfied that it is operating as planned. However, a final assessment will be carried out as part of the stage three safety audit once the whole scheme is complete. Therefore, the build-out on Blackberry Lane has not been a factor in the scheduling of the second phase of the developer’s works. However, these works need to be co-ordinated with work being carried out by SSEN to put in electricity cables for the new development so that the road is opened up only once to complete all the works.”

A Persimmon Homes South Coast spokesman said: “Persimmon Homes remains committed to completing the highway improvements in Brislands Lane and its junction with Lymington Bottom. We have reached agreement with Hampshire County Council as to the final extent of the works and our contractor is in the process of booking road space to enable the works to be undertaken.

“In parallel, and to avoid disturbance to the completed works, we will also be installing a new service duct in Brislands Lane for SSE, to enable them to undertake some localised network improvements.”