Unadopted areas of Peterborough estate experiencing ‘urban decay’

Orton Waterville City Councillor Julie Stevenosn (Independent) says Orton Northgate is blighted by “urban decay” as a result of the council not taking legal responsibility for its maintenance.

“The Orton Northgate estate has yet to be adopted by the council which is very frustrating because it has been finished nearly ten years now,” she said. “As a result we’re starting to experience some urban decay.”

The councillor believes having the upkeep of the estate shared between four developers: Persimmon, Barratt Homes, Jelson, and Taylor Wimpey, only adds to the problem.

“The developers have finished building and constructing these roads and houses some years ago but because they haven’t been maintained, we’re starting to see all sorts of problems.”

Taking the LDRS on a tour of the estate, Cllr Stevenson pointed out unmaintained water courses, cracked roads and destroyed fencing, along with damaged road signs and rows of dysfunctional lamposts.

These issues, along with many others, she said, added up to make Orton Northgate “not a very tidy place to live.”

There’s one issue above all however which really concerns the councillor:

“There’s a big hole in this wooden bridge that goes over some water that runs right through the middle of the estate – it worries me a great deal a child could fall through.”

“We can’t allow something to happen there – it needs to be fixed, quickly.”

She said it was “really unfair” how residents have no choice but to pay, sometimes, over the odds, for the estate’s upkeep:

“The people who live here who pay their council tax… sometimes also pay a charge to the developer’s management company,” she said.

Cllr Stevenson believes the only way to resolve these issues is to bring all responsible parties together:

“I would like our MP, Sam Carling, to knock some heads together,” she said. “What we need is the council and the four developers to get together and resolve any outstanding issues so that this whole lovely area can get adopted by the council.”

“That would make our residents really happy.”

Replying to the LDRS, North West Cambridgeshire MP Sam Carling said he shared residents’ concerns about the condition of the Orton Northgate estate.

“Living in an area where roads, footpaths and green spaces aren’t properly maintained can be frustrating and unsafe – particularly when it comes to damaged bridges, cracked roads, and overgrown verges,” he said.

“I’ve been raising the issue of unadopted estates like this for some time, including directly to Parliament. The current system, where responsibility is split between multiple developers and councils, can result in the kind of neglect we’re seeing here.

“The government has launched consultations to reform unadopted estates, improve adoption processes, and strengthen residents’ rights where private management remains. Strong action is coming on these issues.

“I’ll continue to work locally, pressing for Orton Northgate and other unadopted estates to be made safe, maintained, and adopted by the council.”

Upon receiving a list of residents’ concerns delivered by the LDRS, a spokesperson for Barratt Homes, said:

“We have recently appointed a new estate management agency to resolve the issues related to our development at Orton Northgate. They have already tackled the repair of the streetlights, one of which is currently undergoing further investigation.

“As soon as the roads leading into the estate are adopted by another developer, we will ensure the roads under our responsibility are adopted as soon as possible.”

Persimmon Homes, who delivered two phases of the Orton Northgate development, in 1994 and then in 2003, said:

“All green spaces within the Persimmon Homes development are managed by Peterborough City Council (PCC) and an appointed third-party management company. All maintenance responsibility for these areas now resides with PCC and the management company.

“The roads on our first phase of development have been adopted by Peterborough City Council. The roads on the second phase have adoption certificates from Peterborough City Council and are about to be transferred formally this week.

“The roads on the first phase of development are Peterborough’s responsibility but the roads on our second phase wouldn’t be adopted if they were in the condition described by residents so again, we would assume this is referencing areas delivered by a different developer.”

A spokesperson for Taylor Wimpey said: “We are aware of some outstanding remedial works at The Shires, Peterborough, and are working with contractors to address works in our legal ownership, specifically on Kelburn Road. We take our responsibilities seriously and we are committed to resolving these issues.

“We are also working towards securing the necessary agreements for the formal adoption of roads under our ownership, so that Peterborough City Council can provide long-term maintenance solutions for these areas of the development.”

Jelson Ltd confirmed that the issues outlined within this article fall outside of land owned or controlled by them.

Following an investigation by their Highways & Open Spaces team, Peterborough City Council said they did not believe any of the individual issues highlighted by Orton Northgate residents fell within the authority’s responsibility/ownership.

“From the Highways perspective it is down to the developer to bring the highway up to an adoptable standard and PCC have no powers to force a developer to do this. In some circumstances, developers prefer to keep the site in their private ownership,” a spokesperson said.

“We are however working closely with the developers to bring forward adoptions and advising on what works they will be required to do to enable this. Until such time it is adopted it will be down to the developer to make any repairs.”