Pavement Refurbishment: Devonshire Road

Quality control needs to be tighter

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I think the fact they decided to make un-announced changes in a conservation area without even looking at the pavement it joins with says more about the project than that!

Completely agree with the quality, when I saw them at work a few weeks ago they looked like complete cowboys and when I looked at finished paving they had done I wasn’t too impressed either. I’m curious to see how far up the road they are planning to go with this…

I asked one of the guys doing the work, and he said they’re doing the entire road.

Well let’s hope they walk back over where they’ve been, as haven’t finished corner of Woodcombe or dropped kerb outside Leyton Court 51 Devonshire, just loose rubble.

The pavements are uneven in places and trip hazards around manhole covers etc that were not there with the old pavements. Also, damage has been cause to some properties (walls, fences, drives, water meters etc) which they still haven’t repaired. General quality of the work is poor and the whole project is running behind schedule - think it was meant to be all finished by now!

Months later, this is still going on. It appears they have given up using paving blocks and resorting to tarmac. Needless to say, the Council’s supposed priority of pedestrians is nowhere in evidence: on the contrary, pavements have been blocked for several months.

World’s longest paving works!

Also the shoddiest

Their sequencing is all over the place. They left materials on pretty much every stretch of the road.

I’m pretty certain in a few months time someone will be back making good loose slabs and cracked asphalt that they’ve done!!

3 months later and this is still the case!

Are they actually doing ANY work during the day? I’m not working from home so only see their “progress” on my way home after work. For days on end it looks like they haven’t done anything.

There are two new guys on the job this week. I had a chat to one of them on Monday, who said that the two workers who had been doing the project have been fired. The guy I was chatting to seemed to know what he was doing, and as I walked to point out some missed driveways that are due for block paving, that he hadn’t been made aware of, he pointed out a lot of shoddy bits of workmanship, that I think he intends to sort out over the next week or so as they finish off the bits that have not been resolved. He was already aware, for example, of the water meter housing in a driveway at the Forest Hill end of the road which did not have any kind of foundation built for it, and has therefore collapsed, and intends to rectify that.

They are doing noisy work at the weekend - which is not lawful. Well into the afternoon on Saturday, and on Sunday as well. I suppose they know that Lewisham Council will never take any action on behalf of residents.

They are using petrol driven power tools to cut concrete blocks. Basically as noisy as a chain saw, on Sunday morning. This is the Council’s contractor! Total contempt for residents.

@LeoGibbons and I are following up on these points (including trip hazards & noisy works at the weekend) with officers and the contractors. More information ASAP.

We have received replies from the contractor.

On works during the weekend:
“I would like to apologise if your weekend was disturbed by any of our works in Devonshire Road. Unfortunately due to pressures placed on the works by Covid 19 the works ran in to the weekend. The more noisy element however was programmed to be completed inside the usual hours and I apologise if this over ran on the Saturday. I understand a member of the public spoke with the gang on the Sunday and they specifically avoided use of the saw and only laid blocks to crossings and left cutting in of these until today. I understand they did briefly use a wacker plate on the Sunday to allow a resident to use a crossover and access their drive, I do apologise for this however it was only to assist a local resident.”

On the works overall and debris:
"I would again like to take the opportunity to apologise, we have been working in Devonshire Road under challenging circumstance, with various Thames water leaks along the road unrelated to our works, a sink hole attended by another contractor, the lockdowns, and an unforeseen national shortage in block supply in a road where every crossover is block paved to name a few.

A little good news is that we have now substantially completed works in Devonshire Road and are in the process of clearing the site. The majority of barriers have already been removed with the remainder of any barriers, materials, spoil, and equipment being moved away in the coming days. I do apologise for the more disruptive nature of the works over the past week and it is not the method of working we would usually want to employ but was unfortunately a result of some the issues we have been facing as a result of problems arising from the current climate.

Some possible bad news however I noticed on my last visit a further water leak it appears Thames Water is looking at and various spray markings on the footpath suggesting Thames Water may be looking to dig up parts of the road and it looks like their problems continue there."

@LeoGibbons and I are arranging a follow-up call with the contractor so if you have outstanding questions please share them here or by email and we will raise them.

We are also arranging a call with Thames Water to discuss water issues in the area generally & will raise this specific point.

Sophie

Apology not accepted.

It is inconceivable that the Council’s contractors are unaware of the noise regulations (even posted on the Council’s website)

Reasonable working hours for ongoing construction are:

• Monday–Friday, 8am–6pm

• Saturday, 8am–1pm.

Yes there’s a pandemic, but how does that justify extreme noise on weekends? On the contrary, it is arguable that Saturday morning noisy work should also be stopped, as people are stuck at home.

@SophieDavis I just wanted to say thank you picking up lots of issues on here, finding out what is happening and then providing updates, even if it’s not always the update people want. It’s really useful and very much appreciated.

@SophieDavis, to echo @oakr - thank you so much for writing detailed responses for the benefit of members here on the forum.

Apologies you sometimes receive rude remarks in reply.

I think the vast majority of us really appreciate your involvement here.

I don’t why they didn’t tarmac the whole thing.
It seems much less prone to uneven bits sticking out and shifting.
And way better for skateboarding

Hi Sophie.

Thanks for the update.

Are the workers aware that the Woodcombe crescent/ Devonshire Road corner paving is still incomplete?

It’s been like that for a very long time…

Thanks @oakr @anon5422159 - much appreciated.

We’re hoping to meet the contractors tomorrow so will put these questions to them and revert back.

Sophie

Hi Sophie,

Can I just ask, is the plan for whole road being re-paved?

Thanks

Brett

Hi all,

@LeoGibbons, Peter and I met the contractors (Kensons Highway) at the road today.
Just an update on a few points that were raised here:

• Corner of Woodcombe Crescent: this should be fixed next Thursday (17th)
• Reason why some parts of the road have paving & others tarmac: The Council’s preference is for blocks (paving) but sometimes this isn’t possible - two examples are where it makes it too difficult for cars to access driveways, or (for example in front of Drakes Court) where tree roots are too high to allow for paving (the Council doesn’t want tree roots to be damaged, to protect trees).
• Remaining “snags” (where works are unfinished, or not finished well) - there is a process called “snagging” that takes place when the works are complete, whereby the contractor and Council officers walk the road to record all the remaining issues and agree how to fix them. This is taking place next week (w/c14th) & the “snags” will be fixed after that (likely after Christmas, unless they present a risk).
• Some of the remaining issues are the responsibility of utility companies - for example, there is an exposed cable, which contractors are waiting for BT to address. We have arranged a call with Thames Water to follow up a number of these, and Kensons have told us that they will follow up with other utility providers next week.
• Finally, Kensons reiterated their apology for the works taking as long as they did, and for noise over the previous weekend.

@Brett - I don’t know about the second half of the road yet (roads usually get bundled into batches for resurfacing and we get told ahead of the new financial year) - I am following up with Highways.

I will email people who have notified me about specific issues with their property separately but otherwise please email us about anything we haven’t covered and I’ll follow up.

Sophie

Thanks for taking such a proactive approach to dealing with all of this Sophie - it’s greatly appreciated.

Thanks @SophieDavis

Really? The refurb has been poorly executed and dragging on for seven months.

Proactive might have been taking the opportunity of the refurb to widen the pavements, or postponing this non-essential work to divert resources to the very poor pedestrian crossings near the station, used by thousands every day.

Before someone tells me it’s a different budget, let me reiterate that politics is the art of the possible, getting stuff done that needs doing.