£600,000 bill to repair road in Batley

Shamsa Qureshi, left, and Councillor Habiban Zaman, on Warwick Road, Batley Carr

Residents in and around densely-populated Warwick Road where there are homes, shops, businesses and a primary school, want to see the road and pavements repaired.

Batley East Labour councillors Habiban Zaman and Fazila Loonat took residents’ concerns to a meeting of Kirklees Council’s cabinet but their plea for resurfacing was rejected on the grounds of cost.

Council leader Coun Shabir Pandor told the meeting that a full reconstruction of the highway and pavements was needed – and that would cost £600,000.

Coun Zaman said: “Warwick Road is a very densely-populated area and while the road isn’t full of potholes it badly needs to be resurfaced. One of the biggest problems now is that there are lots of new businesses moving into the area and taking some of the old mill premises. This is a narrow road with a lot of housing and a school and it’s becoming very congested.

“We want to see businesses flourish, of course, but it’s becoming very difficult.

“There’s no point just keeping patching the road, it needs a full reconstruction. But when we heard how much it would cost I was quite shocked.”

Coun Loonat, speaking at the cabinet meeting, said the road problems had become “crippling” for local residents and added: “We have been doing patching work for the last year or so but could we have a commitment to get a solution for this road?”

Coun Pandor said over the last 10 years the council had lost £200 million from its budget and there was now a backlog of £165 million in road repairs.

He said the council was investing £50 million in unclassified roads in the district but he added: “Warwick Road alone will cost £600,000 and that is around the whole budget allocated per council ward.

“All I can say is carry on working with council officers in future years. The classified road scheme is a three-year plan and maybe the road can be done in phases.”

Shamsa Qureshi, head teacher at Warwick Road Primary School, said the increasing number of industrial-sized lorries was a problem.

The school doesn’t have a car park and staff cars parked on the road were regularly damaged.

Lorry drivers also get stuck and some had been abusive to staff, she said.