RESIDENTS say thousands of pounds has been wasted by Kirklees officials on a traffic island which was removed just a week after it was built.
Council workers built a pedestrian refuge at the bottom of Soothill Lane in Batley – much to the delight of nearby residents and commuters who use the busy road close to the railway station.
Details obtained from a Freedom of Information request show it cost £6,500 to build, and another £1,500 was spent on removing it just days later.
It is believed a nearby business complained that the traffic island would hinder access for large commercial vehicles.
Concerned resident Philip Cawtheray, who lives on nearby Station Road said: “I think it is outrageous that one phone call from a local business has prompted them to take it away, and at such a cost.
“I have lived up Station Road with my wife Yvonne and step-son Jack for three years. They both have to cross that road every day to and from work and school.
“My wife was delighted when it was first built, she felt so much safer. And knowing young Jack had an easier crossing was a weight off our minds too.
“This traffic island was a godsend. Not just for us but for the hundreds of commuters that have to risk crossing that road every day.
“The speeds that some people come around that corner from the traffic lights is alarming – how there hasn’t been an accident there in the past is unbelievable.
“I still do not know why it was taken away. In the couple of days it was there we saw an HGV turn up Soothill from Station Road, so vehicles cannot have been the issue.”
In details provided in the Freedom of Information request the council said “approval to spend followed the normal council procedures for capital expenditure” and that “it was an officer decision to remove this island”.
Community activist and Conservative election candidate for Batley West, Paul Young, said: “As a candidate it annoys me when I see my money being spent like this.
“I’ve been trying to get a big screen put up for the England game but I’ve been told they have no money, yet they can spend £8,000 on a traffic island for a week.
“If you start doing these kinds of things you’ve got to put an assessment in, rather than just get there, build something and then go ‘oh no that doesn’t fit’.
“You’d like to think for £8,000 there’d been some consultancy work done and some assessments.
“I don’t know how it would’ve cost £8,000 in the first place.
“It’s been done and then quickly hoofed away a week later, so it’s an ill thought-out piece of work.”
Kirklees Council did not respond to our requests for a comment.
