Mexborough & Swinton Times – Friday 18 March 1892
The Highways at Denaby and Conisborough
Further Complaints
The Colliery Company and Their Liability.
A meeting of the Lower Strafforth and Tickhill Highway Board was held at the Union Offices Doncaster, on Tuesday.
Mr. Crawshaw (Warmsworth) in the chair.
A letter was read from Mr. J. Bailey, secretary to the Denaby Main Cooperative Society as to the dangerous condition of the read and threatening legal proceedings. He said he was instructed by the committee of the society to write and call attention to the dangerous and dirty state of the road between Conisborough and Denaby Main and to the constant risk of an accident.
Unless the matter was taken in band forthwith they would instruct a solicitor to take proceedings against the parties liable. There were holes five and six inches deep and that was very dangerous. A copy of the letter was being kept so that in case of an accident to any shareholder or conveyance, there would be no difficulty in proving the authorities were acquainted with the fact, and therefore the personal liability of those responsible.
County Councillor Frank: What has caused these holes?
The Surveyor (Mr. Wood): The traffic in building the houses and laying the drain down the centre of the road and not attending to it as promised.
County Councillor Frank : The Local Government Board transfers all this sort of business – under section 11 – to the County Council.
The Surveyor: Three or four months since they gave us notice that they wanted to take up the road for drainage, and they have not attended to the road.
County Councillor Frank: I understand so, and the Council will take it in hand.
Mr. Simmons (Wheatley): We called attention to it and asked whether the metalling was done.
The Surveyor : They should have got some more metal.
The Chairman : I went up purposely to see that piece of the read the other day, and the Denaby Main Colliery Company should, I think, make a portion of it in which the drain was concerned better than they have done. As to the footpaths there is a lot of wilful damage done. There are large circular holes, from two to inches deep, incidentally done out of pure mischief.
Mr. Cheetham (Bolton-on-Dearne): I drove along there this last week and are holes about two feet deep! That is where they have been laying the sewers. They have a right to repair it and make it good. It was a good road when they commenced the work.
The Surveyor: Our clerk has given them notice.
The Clerk (Mr. F. E. Nicholson): I gave them notice to get the work done in seven days, and have a reply. He then read a letter dated 9 March, from Mr. W. H. Chambers, manager of the Denaby Main Colliery Company. The letter said the manager was in receipt of the notice ordering the company to restore and put into a proper state of repair is a portion of the road in the parish of Conisborough which was taken up to lay pipes down, and that, failing to do at, the Board would proceed to repair the road and charge the cost to the company. The manager said he was very glad that at last the Board had resolved to repair the road which had been in a shocking condition. He had instructions from the directors to commence an action against the surveyor, and this would have been done, but he (Mr. Chamber), understood that a quantity of metal had been laid down. The contractors had restored a portion, which was then in a better rendition then the remainder of the road, and pedestrians use that in preference to the footpath. Not an ounce of metal had been put down all the week and the road had not been scraped, though the other part had been scraped five times and ashes had been put down, The Denaby Main Colliery would not a cinder on the road or pay for it being repaired. The metal covering the road did not exceed four inches in thickness, and this was certainly not calculated to be sufficient to carry the traffic.
The Surveyor: The question is “was it a good rood before they commenced to make the drain ?” I say it was a good solid road.
County Councillor Frank said section 11 and sub-section 12 of the Local Government Act pointed out that a road when broken up for such a purpose most be put again in a proper state of repair and that if this was not done by the parties the County Council could order the repair to be done to their satisfaction and charge the cost against the authorities. Was it a main road ?- The Surveyor : Yes.
County Councillor Dunston : What is the next business ?
The Chairman : Let us settle this first. We had better correspond with the County Council about this.
The Surveyor: I have a hundred tons of metal to put on the road
The Chairman Will they do it or you?
The Surveyor : Am I to go on repairing with the 100 tons of metal that lay on the road side ?
The Chairman: And they have theirs.?
The Surveyor: I have never seen any.
The Chairman: They say so.
The Surveyor repeated that he had seen none of it.
The Chairman : There is a large quantity but whether it is yours or theirs I don’t know. Of course it is only fair to assume that they intend doing something if it is theirs.
The Surveyor I have never been any dross yet. Is it understood that I do it if they don’t ; that is what I want to know.
Mr. Simmons: The point is that they should make the road as used as it was before.
The Surveyor: Yes.
Mr. Simmons: And it is not as good as it was?
The Surveyor: No.
Mr. Simmons: Then they are liable to the width of the road and you can proceed with the rest to the order of the.
Councillor Frank : The Council would refer it to this Board to of in repair and we had better go on with it.
The Chairman : Very well, then we will go on with it and have it done.
Mr. Cheatham: It a very dangerous state as it is.
County Councillor Frank : Get it done and charge them with the expense.
The Surveyor : I understand that. This was resolved upon.
The Clerk said he had received a letter from the County Council saving the question of main roads at Conisborough and Denaby would be discussed along with others as soon as the newly-formed Council met.