This in from Island Roads, in their own words.
On receiving it, we raised the question “Wasn’t this one of the central tenets of the PFI?” with them. Their reply is below. – Ed
Southern Water and Island Roads have agreed to work even more closely together to try to avoid newly surfaced roads being dug up for repair works.
In a constructive joint meeting held between Island Roads, Southern Water and the Isle of Wight Council, all parties agreed to work even more closely together during the Core Investment period, lasting another six years, when the majority of Island roads will be resurfaced.
Plans shared in advance
Under the improved arrangements, planned water supply upgrades and major utility construction will be shared in advance with Island Roads and schemes of surfacing work will be adjusted to ensure these can be accommodated.
At the same, time teams from Southern Water will visit roads scheduled for resurfacing and, using special listening devices, will search for underground water leaks. This will allow any leaks found to be fixed before the surfacing work is carried out.
Island Roads’ Network Manager Kevin Burton said:
“We already work very closely with Southern Water when scheduling our work to try to ensure any planned utility works are factored into our works planning and we welcome this ongoing dialogue to ensure that we can assist each other in delivering the quality of improvements necessary for local residents.”
Keith Herbert, Southern Water’s Area Manager, said:
“Working more closely with Island Roads will help us organise our planned work more effectively to coincide with their operations. However, with a network of 966km of water mains and 786km of sewers on the Island, emergency work will always be required and we can never guarantee that newly resurfaced roads will not have to be dug up in order to fix bursts and leaks which could otherwise cause flooding. That said, collaborating with Island Roads on the planned work we carry out and on searching for leaks on roads which are due to be resurfaced will certainly bring benefits to customers.”
Cllr Jon Gilbey, Isle of Wight Council Executive member responsible for the highways PFI, who organised the meeting said:
“I welcome this commitment by Island Roads and Southern Water to work even more closely together to ensure, as much as possible, that all planned works are done in a logical sequence and when the highway has to be dug up it is reinstated to the standard expected by the public.”
(END)
On receiving this, OnTheWight wrote back to Claire Robertson (who used to be in charge of IW council press office in the days of the PFI being signed):-
Thanks for this Claire. Back in IWC days, wasn’t this one of the central tenets of the PFI?
She replied:-
Collaboration with the utility companies around the programming of works was and is a central tenet of the PFI and indeed Island Roads have been worked closely with the Southern Water around the programming of works even before the contract start.
This meeting is a continuation of those efforts by all parties to seek improvements in those collaborations and this release seeks to reassure the public, following concerns raised via the media, that the dialogue is and continues to be regular and on-going.
Hope that helps
