RESIDENTS of a posh village say it is being ruined by roadworks to install new EV chargers.
Locals of Harthill, Yorkshire, have been left outraged by the five month-long “nightmare” that has cut them off from shops and pubs.
MEN MediaLocals of Harthill Yorkshire say they have been living a ‘nightmare’ due to five months of road works[/caption]
Butcher John Homer claimed that the work would only benefit new EV chargers at a nearby service stationMEN Media
The roads have been dug up to put in new underground cables to serve charging points for electric cars at the nearby M1 service station as well as some village infrastructure.
John Homer, who runs the local butcher’s shop, claimed he had lost thousands of pounds worth of trade due to the disruption.
He told Yorkshire Live: “It’s just a nightmare.
“There’s no benefit to the village at all.
“It’s going to take another three weeks of them being right outside and then even when it goes round the corner, it’s still going to be restricted.”
The energy company in charge of the project, Northern Powergrid, maintains that it will benefit the village and improve the local electricity grid.
But for baker Ian Maycock, it is nothing but a “pain”.
He said: “It’s causing lack of business, we’ve lost about a third.
“We don’t have a say, we just have to get on with it.”
And greengrocer Emma Bennett agreed, claiming that the high street is “a lot quieter” than usual as a result of the work, adding that it was “frustrating”.
Likewise, the manager of The Beehive, the village pub, slammed the project as causing “massive disruption” and asked why the cables couldn’t have been laid under a field rather than the village roads.
However, Northern Powergrid are adamant that the new lines will benefit the village and that they were supporting the local community.
A spokesperson for the company said: “We are delivering a £7.7 million investment scheme to increase the resilience of the electricity network in Harthill with Woodhall.
“This enhanced infrastructure will enable more electric vehicle charging at Woodall Services – one of the busiest motorway services in the north of England – as well as increasing the reliability and resilience of the network for residents and businesses.
“We’d like to thank residents, customers and businesses for their patience and we will keep them informed at every stage of the work.”
They also stated that they had to lay the cable under a public highway so it could be easily accessed for maintenance and repairs.
The company claimed it had “proactively promoted” diverted routes into the village and supplied signage to inform potential customers that the businesses near the works were operating as normal.
Work will be demobilised for most of December, while being “fast-tracked” before then, and will resume on a smaller scale in January 2024.
Sam Barstow, Assistant Director of Community Safety and Street Scene at Rotherham Council said: “Rotherham Council cannot refuse access to utility companies that need to carry out works on our roads.
“We have been working closely with Northern Powergrid to ensure these works are carried out to schedule and disruption is kept to a minimum.
“Access to the village has always been maintained either by the use of traffic lights or a signed diversion.”
It comes after a mum was handed a hefty ULEZ fine for taking her son to hospital after being duped by a scam.
Meanwhile, a savvy driver who made £50,000 with his car-related side hustle revealed that he used the extra cash to buy two new motors.
MEN MediaResident say that the works and associated road closures have cause ‘massive disruption’[/caption]
MEN MediaLocal baker Ian Maycock said it was ‘a pain’[/caption]
MEN MediaGreengrocer Emma Bennett also slammed the project[/caption]
MEN MediaThe company responsible insisted that the new lines would benefit the village grid[/caption]
MEN MediaThe local council said they were unable to refuse access for utility companies to carry out works[/caption]