Yorkshire Water block residents bid to get council to adopt their estate

A petition with 138 signatures asked the council to take over the roads and infrastructure on the Granary Estate in Clifton Without, York.

Coun Darryl Smalley, a councillor for the area, said if the road is not adopted by the council, it leaves the maintenance of the estate to private developers Redrow and risks putting off potential buyers.

Complications are increased as the estate’s pumping station is managed by Persimmon Homes, but the land belongs to a third party. The developers have therefore been unable to transfer it to Yorkshire Water.

Residents want the York Council to adopt the estate, which was built four years ago, but this requires Yorkshire Water to adopt the pumping station and it has so far refused to do so.

York Council has made eight attempts to cooperate with Yorkshire Water between October 2020 and March 2023, but without resolution.

In a council meeting this week, a council officer told coun Pete Kilbane, deputy leader and executive member for economy and transport, that “this is obviously a complicated issue.”

He added: “We will continue to work with Yorkshire Water but we have limited powers to force Yorkshire Water to do anything.”

Coun Smalley said: “This is an issue that affects a great many people, not just those who live on the estate, but future residents and past residents.

“And we’ve had really difficult experiences as ward councillors with residents where conveyancing when they’re trying to sell their house, has raised road adoption as an issue delaying or even stalling their house sale, meaning they can’t get on with their lives.”

Coun Kilbane said: “It is a complicated issue.

“It’s to do with land ownership and who’s responsible but I think if all parties pull their fingers out we can get this resolved quite quickly with good will.

“We’d be very happy to write to Redrow and to Yorkshire Water to that effect, maybe using slightly more polite language.

“But we do need those organisations to get on and sort this out because they’re not leaving the residents in a very fair position.”