Blyth residents unhappy as roads on Crofton Grange housing estate remain unfinished

Homeowners on a Blyth housing estate have criticised the pace of work being carried out to complete the development's roads.

Some residents of Crofton Grange have lived on the estate for over a decade - but the main route into the development is still unfinished, while there has also been criticism of incomplete curbs and raised ironworks.

Developers Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey insist the work will be complete in the coming weeks. The road network will then be "adopted" by Northumberland County Council within the year for ongoing maintenance.

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John Tyler, who has been a resident of Crofton Grange for several years, has already led a successful petition to get the works started after the housebuilders vacated the site. Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Tyler explained residents' current concerns.

He said: "We moved in seven years ago, but obviously there have been people living here for up to 13 years. In that time the estate has been getting developed, but the housebuilders vacated the site around 18 months ago.

"This summer there were people on site and we thought 'finally'. There was lots of them."

He added: "The overwhelming feeling is frustration. Once the last house was finished, they should have been here with contractors and just finished the roads."

Responding to residents concerns, a spokesman for Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon said “Work to finish the surfacing of roads and pavements has been progressing overseen by the local authority.

“All roads on the development have now been topped off with just a final remaining section of Haggerston Drive left to complete. This work, including installation of a few remaining drop kerbs will commence next month and is expected to be completed within 4-6 weeks.

“The adoptions process will then commence with Northumberland County Council to take on responsibility for the roads, pavements and streetlights. We expect this process to take between 6-12 months. Alongside this, sewers on the development will be adopted by Northumbrian Water.

“The new on-site playpark opened earlier this summer and last year we funded a new footpath link, connecting the development to nearby Tynedale Drive.”