The petition of residents of the village of Furneux Pelham, North East Hertfordshire,
Declares that Whitebarns Lane is the sole pedestrian and vehicle access for residents in social housing in Furneux Pelham; however, it is unfit for purpose and has been in a near constant state of dangerous disrepair for many years as a result of Hertfordshire County Council’s refusal to maintain the route as a road; further declares that this refusal to carry out repairs after many years of lobbying has led to vulnerable residents of Whitebarns, including the disabled and elderly, suffering from falls and other injuries; and furthermore expresses dismay at the ongoing neglect and mis-treatment of social housing tenants in rural communities.
The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Government to work with Hertfordshire County Council to ensure that a proportion of the £1.6bn in increased funding for pothole repairs is used to repair and maintain Whitebarns Lane and, to ensure that social housing tenants are never again placed in a situation whereby they have no substantive access to the main highway, to urge the Government to take action to ensure that the development in Furneux Pelham and all future developments have such access as standard.
And the petitioners remain, etc. —[Presented by Chris Hinchliff, Official Report, 26 February 2025; Vol. 762, c. 902.]
[P003047]
Observations from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Lilian Greenwood):
I understand the frustration of the residents of Whitebarns Lane, Furneux Pelham at the poor state of the lane, which is having a negative impact on those who use it. However, the local highway authority, Hertfordshire County Council, does not own or have responsibility for the lane in question. Decisions on whether to adopt private streets or unadopted roads such as Whitebarns Lane are entirely a matter for the local highway authority; it is not for the Government to dictate to individual local highway authorities what to do in situations of this sort.
Under the 1980 Highways Act, the local highway authority is responsible for the management of those streets that have been adopted by it, or its predecessor authorities. A road that is not maintained at public expense by a highway authority is known as a private street, as defined by section 203(2) of the Highways Act 1980. The responsibility for management of private streets rests with the owner, or more usually the frontagers, who are those owning property that fronts, or abuts, the street concerned.
The Highways Act 1980 makes provision for the adoption of unadopted roads and for urgent repairs to be made by the highway authority without adoption. Under sections 205-218 of the Highways Act 1980 (known as the “private street works code”), the street works authority can resolve to make up a private street at any time. The cost of doing so is usually met by owners of the properties that front the street concerned, and the street is then usually adopted by the highway authority. Guidance on the process of highway adoption is available on gov.uk at
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adoption-of-roads-by-highway-authorities
Under section 230 of the Highways Act 1980, Hertfordshire County Council has the power, without commitment to adoption, to carry out urgent repairs to an unadopted road, such as Whitebarns Lane, to prevent or remove danger to persons or vehicles. Other provisions within section 230 enable a private street works authority to require the owners of a private street to carry out urgent repairs.
Any decision about whether to do so is for the local authority to make. It is also for the authority to decide whether to recover costs from the owners where a notice to carry out urgent repairs has been served but not complied with, and the authority has carried out the repairs itself.
However, where an authority has served a notice on the owners or frontagers requiring them to repair the street, a majority in number or rateable value of the owners of premises in the street may themselves serve notice on the authority requiring them to proceed under the private street works code, after which the local authority must declare the street to be a publicly maintainable highway.
In 2025-26, the Department will be allocating Hertfordshire County Council £35.6 million, an extra £9.3 million compared to this financial year, to maintain and improve its local highway network. It is entirely a matter for Hertfordshire County Council, as the local highway authority, to decide how it spends the highway maintenance funding based on local needs and priorities.