UNADOPTED residential streets in part of Oxenhope are in a “shocking” state and will only deteriorate further if action is not taken, according to a parish councillor.

Members of Oxenhope Parish Council debated what could be done to help people living in an area known locally as The Square, which includes Beatrice Street and other nearby roads off Lowertown.

Commenting at the council’s meeting yesterday evening (Sept 12) Cllr Robert Goulding said he had recently spoken to some Beatrice Street residents, adding that an initial discussion about unruly young bike riders then moved on to the poor condition of the road surface.

“In places the road looks like a bomb has hit it,” he said. “It is full of craters and potholes and it’s in a hell of mess. It is only going to get worse each year.

“I know getting an agreement from lots of different people to have a road surfaced often isn’t possible. But should this be allowed to continue until the road becomes impassable?

“People are already having to park their cars in strange positions to avoid the dips and gulleys in the road.

“I don’t know what the solution is, which is why I’m asking the council for ideas tonight. But would we be happy with seeing part of the village end up in a state of complete disrepair?

“Do we feel this is a village issue, or just something for individual home owners to worry about?”

Cllr Goulding said the mix of home owners and tenants living in this area would complicate any attempt at a united, community effort to pay for proper resurfacing.

“It’s a real problem, because even though this is privately owned land it does have an impact on the wider village,” he said.

Worth Valley ward councillor Rebecca Poulsen said the only instances in which Bradford Council takes on the maintenance of previously unadopted roads involve new planning applications, where adoption of the road leading to the new property is a condition of planning approval.

Cllr David Ashcroft said the problem in and around Beatrice Street had implications for both traffic and general public safety, so deserved to be treated as a village matter.

“I think we should be concerned, though that doesn’t mean we should act unilaterally,” he said. “That would be a dangerous step when we don’t ourselves have the necessary resources.”

Cllr Tony Maw asked whether it might be possible to have some chippings laid down to even out the surface of the road, which would be a cheaper option that a full resurfacing operation.

Parish council chairman, Cllr Ken Eastwood, said: “I agree that the road conditions there are shocking, and the footpaths are bad too.

“I sympathise with the people who live there. Is there something we can do to facilitate bringing them together to tackle this?”

Cllr Ashcroft said: “We’d need to first knock on a few doors to see if we can find a sufficient group of local residents prepared to engage with this issue.”

Cllr Eastwood recommended the parish council write to people living in these streets to see if they would be interested in coming to a public meeting to work out a way forward.

And he also recommended contacting Bradford Council’s Highways department for advice.