An Update on the Flood Works

With thanks to Councillor Gayle Gander, who shared the timetable for the works as follows:

  • 9th January 2023: The drainage aspect of the scheme commenced
  • 9th-27th January: The first 3 weeks was spent setting up the site, marking out, undertaking trial pits and cleaning/jetting existing soakaways/pipes
  • 27th-13th Feb: The proposed new gully pots and an inspection chamber are being installed
  • 13th-28th Feb: The installation of the proposed soakaway crates. All drainage works are anticipated to be completed after which the public realm measures will commence
  • By end of March 2023: All the works are programmed to be completed.

The contractors are confident of completing the works to that timescale, subject to no unforeseen circumstances.

Additional traffic calming measures in the form of chicanes will be implemented along Church Road by Monday 20th Feb for the remainder of the works. Further 20mph signs will also be added to add more weight to the chicane traffic calming measures. I know that the works have been frustrating and worrying for many people. The flood remediate works needed to be done as this junction has been problematic for years, and the public realm works on making the junction with Valley easier for pedestrians, and much prettier will be welcomed.

A walk down Welcomes Road, Jan 26th 2023

You may be interested in the attached pictures of the work going on in the lower reaches of Welcomes Road today.

One picture in particular shows the extensive stress lines on the road a result of the recent frosts no doubt weakened by the weight of the construction site traffic from 10 and 42 Welcomes Road.

The developer at 10 Welcomes Road has kindly done some temporary repairs to the worst of the damage to the road.

Road Closures Update – Jan 2023

With the flood alleviation works in Kenley Lane starting on or soon after Monday 9th January 2023, Welcomes Road is close to becoming impassable. The frost damage near 8/10 Welcomes Road will be repaired shortly potentially adding to the problems as the road will be partly blocked while the work proceeds. In addition the zone around the bottom of Welcomes Road and Kenley Lane will be traffic light controlled, or so it was understood when WURA had a site meeting with the Council Water Engineer and F.M Conway (contractors) several months ago.

The full mapping for the alleviation works can be viewed here . These appear to show that Welcomes Road will be shut at the bottom end for the duration of the works, along with Kenley Lane which will be approached via Hermitage Road. The pdf maps have been supplied courtesy of Kendra Planning, for which many thanks.

Although Zig Zag Road is not included as a diversion route it is likely to see more traffic though it would be appreciated if construction traffic drivers are instructed to use Uplands Road to approach Welcomes Road to reach the building sites at 10 and 42 WR as Zig Zag Road is not suitable for HGVs. However it would appear that Welcomes Road will continue to be closed at Simone Drive for essential gas pipe replacement works perhaps for another 10 days meaning for this period Zig Zag Road will be the only access route for people living in Welcomes Road from No 68 downwards. It would be appreciated if construction traffic could be minimised until the gas works have been completed when Uplands Road can be used for access rather than Zig Zag Road.

Additionally, drainage investigative works on Hayes Lane j/w Godstone Road have been scheduled for Friday 13th January between 9am & 2pm. Advance “No Waiting” signs are due to be erected on nearby lamp posts soon so that the contractors can get access to all of the gullies.

Please leave yourself plenty of time for your car journey as it will undoubtedly take longer for the next 2 months or so.

Emergency Gas Works on Welcomes Road

Please note that Welcomes Road is currently shut just north of Simone Drive so please avoid the area unless you are accessing your home, as of 6th January 2023.

The work to replace the defective gas pipe has taken place but reinstatement of the road is currently expected to take some time and it would appear that Welcomes Road will continue to be closed at Simone Drive for perhaps for another 10 days through to mid January. This means that once the flood alleviation works start at the bottom of Welcomes Road for this period Zig Zag Road will be the only access route for people living in Welcomes Road from No 68 downwards.

Reporting a Dangerous Structure

Croydon Council writes:

We are responsible for dealing with structures which are an immediate danger to the public. Our role is to deal with the immediate danger if the owner is not available to do so or is unknown at the time of the incident. Costs incurred are subsequently charged to the owner. It is not our role to rebuild or rectify faults.

To report a dangerous building or structure call 020 8760 5637.

To help us to process the report more quickly, provide as much information as possible, including the address, location and perceived nature of the danger. If you think that your building or structure is dangerous, you should seek professional advice as how to make it safe and take action immediately. We can discuss this with you during office hours on 020 8760 5637.

Evenings, weekends and public holidays

If you believe that people are at serious risk of an imminent major structural failure out of hours (between 4pm and 9am, at the weekend or on a public holiday), call our emergency number: 020 8726 6000.

Issused Dec 2022

Flood Alleviation Works from 9th January 2023

We have received notification that FM Conway, on behalf of Croydon Council, will be commencing essential drainage works as well as the re-development of the junction of Kenley Lane and Welcomes Road.

The start date is scheduled from 9th January to 9th March, 08:00 – 16:00, weather permitting.

To enable the contractor to undertake the works, some on-street parking will be suspended on Kenley Lane / Valley Road for the duration of the works. We also request that vehicular access to Kenley Lane will be via the prescribed diversion routes. The junction will be shut for approximately 3 months whilst the work takes place. Pedestrian access will be maintained as well as emergency services access. The works will be carried out with road closures in conjunction with 2-way temporary traffic signals for 1 week of the 12 week program.

Advance warning signs will be in place before the works commence advising of the precise dates and times. Unforeseen circumstances such as inclement weather may result in late changes so please check the signs regularly for updates.

Useful details of road closures and planned works can be found at https://one.network/uk/croydon

Please note that penalty charge notices will be applied to vehicles parts within the suspended areas during works hours and/or vehicles relocated. The Council urge all residents to ensure that their vehicles are moved from the suspended areas in order to avoid any delays to the works. If your vehicle is relocated please contact LBC on 020 8726 6000 Ext 52816 who will provide the exact location of your vehicle.

The Council are extremely sorry for the inconvenience this may cause residents. They wish to ensure that all works carried out on the Croydon network are to the highest standard to ensure value for residents.

For any further information please email HighwaysMaintenance@croydon.gov.uk or telephone 020 8726 6000 ext 52816.

Beware of Bogus Callers

Croydon Council does not permit its employees or contractors to undertake work on private property during the course of any scheme. If anyone offers such work they will not be a council approved contractor and should be treated with caution. Any scheme undertaken by a council approved contractor does not require cash payments.

Cold calling doorstep traders offering to carry out home maintenance work such as driveway repairs and roofing are a problem in Croydon. These traders can be very persuasive and can intimidate you into agreeing to have work undertaken. The advice from Croydon Trading Standards Service is to say “NO” to all cold calling traders, every time. If they will not leave or you get into difficulties then call Croydon Trading Standards on 020 8407 1311.

Full Fibre to the House or Premises

Some of you may recall a member’s effort to get a community plan for “fibre optic to the premises” together but because trust funds were involved and many houses using the same telephone nodes as us but outside WURA purview, it was not felt possible for WURA to get involved. 

However a member has just mentioned the continuing difficulty of working from home with the often poor broadband service here and got the response below from Openreach. This suggests that if enough people register an interest surperfast broadband might get here sooner 2025 which is the earliest possible date at the moment.

Hi CR8 residents

I wanted to let you know that we’ve successfully received your request to be kept up to date on information about Ultrafast Full Fibre broadband.

At the moment, Uplands Road,Kenley isn’t planned to have Ultrafast Full Fibre built in the next year. I know this isn’t what you wanted to hear. Building our new Ultrafast Full Fibre broadband to the whole of the U.K. is a massive engineering project that takes years to complete, but rest assured we’re working as fast as we can. Currently we’re passing a home or business every 14 seconds.

We’re always adding new areas into our build plan, and now that you’ve given us your details, I’ll let you know when things change. 

In the meantime, you could consider:
Help get more people interested in your area: The more people in a community or area that register their interest on our website – just like you – the more likely it is we’ll come to your area – help spread the word and get more people to register at openreach.com/ultrafast

We also have lots of information on our website about how we’re building Ultrafast Full Fibre at https://www.openreach.com/fibre-broadband/fibre-first and https://www.openreach.com/help-and-support/questions-about-fibre-availability

Openreach

Resurfacing Work Update

As you will no doubt have seen, the resurfacing work was completed successfully by London Surfacing in September. The cost of the work was approx. £90,000.

The same company will be repainting the white lining on Uplands Road on 4th November.

Road Resurfacing – September 2022

IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO WURA RESIDENTS

Road resurfacing programme September 2022 (Subject to weather conditions)

Please note that starting on Tuesday 20th September 2022 London Surfacing Company Ltd will be carrying out works as follows:

  1. Mobilise equipment:

Plant and machinery will be parked on Uplands Road on the same side as the pillar box in a designated zone as happened last year. This area is being shared with construction site vehicles from 35 Uplands Road. The zone for London Surfacing use has already been marked off in yellow paint. Advance notices of the work are being affixed to various poles around the area.

2. Preparation work: 

a) Cut tie ins to drives using planer and sweeper.

b) Lift all iron work

c) Pre sweep prior to laying new tarmac

d) Spray tack coat prior to laying 40mm thickness of Stone Mastic Asphalt (SMA)

e) Repainting speed ramps at the end of the work

3. Areas to be overlayed with SMA and the likely sequence after prep work done;

a) SMA will be laid in an uphill direction starting at 33 Welcomes Road up to and including the speed ramp near 41/42 Welcomes Road. Area 411m2 linear about 100m.

b) SMA will be laid from 58 WR inc speed ramp to Zig Zag Road. Area about 710m2 or 150m

c) SMA overlay will continue on up to Uplands Road from Zig Zag Road thus creating a continuous stretch of 40mm overlay from Hayes Lane to 58 Welcomes Road.

d) We have a quote for about £26,000 to overlay the road from 10 Welcomes Road to the end of Welcomes Road but this plan is still under consideration.

Co-operation with work force:The Manager of the works, Chris Stylianou, will liaise with frontagers as the road is resurfaced in front of their houses. Generally work will start at 9am each day and complete about 3pm so there will be a window to get out on foot or move your cars to a neighbour or nearby road. If any resident has a problem please contact the Chairman who will liaise with Chris.

Note for construction sites and other projects being carried out by residents.

Please avoid using HGVs on newly laid tarmac for 48 hours after application and plan to have sufficient building materials on site to allow work to continue whilst London Surfacing are operating in the road.

3. Cost and rationale

a) The work described above will cost about £116,000 with the stretch from Zig Zag Road to 58 Welcomes Road still to be formally priced by London Surfacing. This leaves £45,000 in the Road Fund to support other essential works to be carried in September 2022 including lifting iron work near 3 UR and adjusting levels where Kearton Close meets Uplands Road, resurfacing part of Pine Close and recurrent expenditure

b) The stretch from Uplands Road to Zig Zag Road is costed at the lower price of c 32m2 from a quote in June 2022. Other newer work is costed at £40m2n 

c) The road fund is being eroded by inflation which is now predicted to hit 18%. largely driven by the rapidly rising cost of  oil and gas. This must lead to some uncertainty about the appetite for more house building by developers who so far have supplied much of the funding for the current road resurfacing programme. If the rest of Welcomes Road is to be resurfaced next year it is essential that members continue to support the road resurfacing programme by paying their annual road levy promptly. Currently we are £8,000 behind with payments.

Uplands Road: Affordable solutions for the resurfacing of this road next year are under review. Much hinges on the HGV levies expected from developers in Kearton Close and Welcomes Road where planning permission has already been granted for a number of other developments.

General note; Please do not modify the road surface, drainage or kerbing in front of your property without consulting the Road Committee first.

Projected income from new development sites

Bearing in mind that we (WURA) are paying VAT at 20% on all the road maintenance frontagers (householders) pay for from post tax income in order to maintain what are essentially public highways and that the cost of tarmac seems to have risen 25% in very a short time we intend to ask residents to consider a substantial rise in the road levy at the next AGM.