1 week Ago
The unnamed road between Chapel Leigh and Pyleigh, near Lydeard St Lawrence, suffered subsidence damage when a tree was uprooted by the storm on December 5 and has been closed ever since. Residents approached Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service who assessed how accessible their properties would be in an emergency. They were told access for most of its vehicles would be "contingent on the 'hole in the road' being repaired".
Vicky Shaw, a resident of Chapel Leigh, said: "I’m very angry because all of this resurfacing work is going on elsewhere on perfectly usable roads, but our road isn’t usable it is closed. "There’s 3ft of road left so it is only walkable. It’s urgent because there are farmers down there who have no way of getting out unless the road is fixed, we will have harvest soon and they won’t be able to get their vehicles out.
"The fire service said they would not be able to get any of their vehicles through. It’s not good enough when there’s a community cut off from emergency services." Residents say that the "impact" of the road being "severely restricted" is being felt by the nine businesses being run, either full-time or part-time, from Chapel Leigh.
Six of the businesses require the movement of stores or livestock by HGVs or tractors and trailers. Michael Kingscote, a resident of Chapel Leigh, said: "The north route is blocked with no plan or timeline for its repair, and the south access is very narrow with an extremely tight entry that will not accommodate a vehicle longer than 6.9 meters.
"As a result, any large loads have to be physically cross-loaded onto smaller vehicles, resulting in more expense and time wasted. In the spring/summer, silage and haymaking season, the access to the hamlet will be very difficult and require additional farming resources due to the longer distances to be travelled." A spokesperson for Somerset Council said: "We understand the concerns of residents and appreciate this has taken some time.
The tree caused a lot of damage to the road and this means there will need to be fairly significant work done in order to reopen it. "The team is trying to schedule this work into the ongoing maintenance programme as soon as possible. We’re grateful for people’s patience.
" Rachel Gilmour, MP for Tiverton and Minehead , has been contacted for comment..
