HOW has it been possible for Severn Trent Water to get away with leaving Culver Hill in Amberley in such a state?

As I understand it, the water supply company is in the process of a major project to replace the water main, through Amberley, skirting Woodchester and then up to Selsley and ultimately to Westrip.

Culver Hill was closed for about three months, seriously inconveniencing the locals and through traffic.

There has been no obvious discernible benefit to its customers or the general public though I don’t doubt the work was required.

But at the end of it we have been left with the same worn out road surface, complete with pot holes and broken verges and now with a badly patched scar of tarmac running down it from top to bottom.

It doesn’t even look like the road was properly swept after work finished.

Surely Gloucester Highways Authority should have insisted that as part of granting permission to close Culver Hill road for such an extended period Severn Trent should have resurfaced it completely at no cost to the public.

The company is privately owned and hugely profitable and yet it has seemingly been allowed without penalty, to botch completely the job of making good.

I am also writing to Gloucester Highways and the local district councillor, Phil McAsey asking that Severn Trent be compelled in all future road closures of this scale to completely resurface the road and retrospectively resurface Culver Hill.

If any of your readers feel that we are being taken for granted and that private enterprise is riding rough shod over the interests of the community, then please do likewise.

The mains water replacement project is by no means finished and we still have a chance to improve the situation before it completes.

Already the road over the common bordering Selsley is closed – are Severn Trent going to be allowed to leave it in the same appalling condition as Culver Hill?

In the new year 100 yards of the top of Selsley Road running down into North Woodchester is due to be dug up by Severn Trent.

As it runs directly past my house and as the road is already in a terrible state, I am hoping that Gloucester County Council can demonstrate that its main priority is to represent the interests of the community and force Severn Trent to properly repair the roads it impacts.

Dave Cliff

North Woodchester