SG Estates responds to complaints over site works

* The new housing development off Vicarage Road.

Nearby residents have been complaining about the way work is being carried out on the new housing estate in Llangollen.

But the boss of the company carrying out the work says they are doing their best "to address and alleviate local traffic issues". 

Complaints from residents centre on large HGVs and various plant driving along Vicarage Road with insufficient room to pass parked residents' vehicles. 

One resident is said to have had the wing mirrors of her car knocked off by a passing vehicle.

Also there are HGVs meeting each other at the pinch point at the top of Hill Street and said to be causing a problem for other road users, particularly pedestrians and those with wheelchairs, push-hairs and prams. 

Steve Griffin, managing director of SG Estates, which is carrying out the building project, says in a statement issued to llanblogger yesterday evening: "Just prior to commencement of the roadworks on Hall Street and Willow Street, SG Estates were approached by Hafren Dyfrdwy (HD) regarding the construction of a new reservoir off Vicarage Road, to the rear (South) of the property known as Fron Hyfryd.  

"HD told SG Estates of its need to install a main from the A5 to its site and requested that they be allowed to lay the pipe whilst SG Estates undertook our works on Hall Street and Willow Street.

"SG Estates decided that it was in the public interest to accommodate HD’s pipe laying within our works programme thereby minimising disruption in the locality (traffic/noise/access) and avoiding further road closures in the vicinity at a later date - not to mention the additional traffic and muddy roads so soon after we had completed our work.

"However, SG Estates' decision to assist with the reservoir project has come at a price. SG Estates has experienced a significant delay to its progress as a result of accommodating these 'unrelated' works, and our programme has been delayed as a result of it.

"Without this incurred delay and other unforeseen circumstances the majority of the roadworks to feed the development site would have been completed by now. 

"SG Estates are a small, local family-owned development company and our financial resources are not as endless as some of the large national companies and the resultant delay would have had a serious impact on the viability of our company proceeding with the development.

"We have had to commence works on some of the properties on phase 1 of the development out-of-sequence and prior to the roads being completed. This action has been required in order to meet our financial responsibilities and deliver the required housing to the market in a timeous manner. 

"This site has been identified by Denbighshire County Council as being vital to meet the shortfall in available local housing and SG Estates has invested heavily in delivering this vision.

"Accordingly, we are committed to delivering the project and infrastructure as soon as possible and without further delays.

"Works continue to progress on-site, and it is anticipated that the roads shall be tarmaced to base course in approximately 6 weeks’ time.

"SG Estates has already spent almost £2 million on reconstructing and upgrading the local highway, utility and infrastructure to date, underlining our commitment to Llangollen.

"In addition we have sponsored several local events and organisations including (Llanfest / Bikefest / Christmas lights / football team etc. We are committed to helping the local community as best we can. 

"We are keen to get the roads completed as this delay is causing frustration for everyone, not least ourselves. The biggest issue that we are facing is that we can only lay a road when everything required beneath it has been laid.

"We continue to push our contractors and the utility companies to expedite the works and enable the tarmac surface to be laid as soon as possible to address and alleviate local traffic issues. 

"We are calling on relationships with the other utilities' personnel to try to keep works on track, and they are trying to help out, so hopefully the impact of events this week can be mitigated as soon as possible.

"The traffic issue on Hill Street is also being impacted as a result of plant and materials being delivered to HD. 

"We apologise to the local neighbour who has experienced inconvenience and we will ensure we expedite our final works to the highway upgrades and ensure all our resources target a timeous completion date."