Rough Paving In The Woodcote Way Neighbourhood, Courtesy Of Chesterfield Borough Cllr Maggie Kellman.
Report by Local Democracy Reporter – Jon Cooper
Concerned councillors claim an unresolved drainage situation between a developer and a water authority has left a relatively new housing estate with long-running issues involving a rough road and paving.
Chesterfield Borough Councillors Tom Snowdon and Maggie Kellman have highlighted remaining highway and paving problems for residents at the Vistry Partnerships and Linden Homes housing development known as Woodcote Way, off Whitecotes Lane, at Walton, Chesterfield, since issues were first raised in 2024 soon after its completion.
Liberal Democrat Cllr Kellman says she is very disappointed problems with the roads at the Linden Homes estate, which falls under Vistry Partnerships, continue to plague residents.
She added: “The first time I had to contact Linden Homes was in May, 2024, because of the very poor condition of the road.
“It looked very rough, uneven, and that was before I got to what appeared to be a rubble-filled section where the road surface was totally disintegrating.
“Residents’ cars were at serious risk of damage just leaving the estate.”
Cllr Kellman, who oversees the Walton ward, said this issue took several months to resolve but other problems still remain two years later at the estate which she says originally involved the construction of 100 new homes.
She explained there is a stretch of unmade pavement on Woodcote Way up to the junction with Whitecotes Lane, and there is a stretch of road which needs completion running between houses leading to the junction of Woodcote Way and Whitecotes Lane.
Fellow Liberal Democrat Cllr Snowdon, who also oversees Walton as both a borough and Derbyshire County Councillor, said he has had several discussions with relevant parties including the Derbyshire County Council highways authority regarding the remaining road surface issues.
He said: “Over the last couple of years I’ve had discussions with Derbyshire County Council highways regarding the cause of the delays.
“They informed me that the problem was with the proposed road drainage system and that they cannot adopt the road until it is up to standard.”
Cllr Snowdon added: “When I took the problem up with Yorkshire Water last year I was told that the design of the drainage system was under discussion between Yorkshire Water and the housing developer.
“In January, I was told that Yorkshire Water and Linden Homes had reached agreement on the design of the drainage system. Unfortunately, after waiting for years, residents still haven’t seen any progress on finishing this road.”
Both Cllr Kellman and Cllr Snowdon say frustrated residents are far from satisfied and many have stated that they have been living on the estate for over three years but the road remains incomplete.
The councillors claim the situation has been compounded by a lack of communication and transparency from the developers with no firm timelines or meaningful updates while they and the water authority continue to ‘finger-point’ over responsibility for the remaining work leaving residents stuck in the middle of a ‘long-overdue commitment which needs to be resolved’.
Cllr Kellman said that other sections of road have been repaired but the last remaining disputed section has a number of patches and a footpath is unfinished and rough.
She said she understands the dispute over this section relates to the design of the water drainage system but despite Cllr Snowdon being told the design had been agreed with paperwork to be signed by Linden Homes nothing has happened since.
Cllr Snowdon said: “This lack of action is just not good enough. I will continue to push both organisations to resolve this problem once and for all.”
Yorkshire Water stated that it received a Section 104 Sewer Adoption application in 2021 and issued technical acceptance requiring the developer to put an agreement in place.
A Yorkshire Water spokesperson explained this agreement would outline the required remediation work so the official and legal sewer network adoption process could get underway and the water authority added that it sent out its most recent reminder for the developer in March.
The water authority says it originally issued the Section 104 agreement to the developer to be signed but this has been in circulation with them for around three years and the developer has not signed the agreement so there is still no legal agreement in place to confirm the sewers will be adopted by Yorkshire Water in the future.
Yorkshire Water says that as soon as the developers have completed the outstanding actions and signed and returned the legally binding Section 104 agreement, it will be able to begin the process to adopt the sewers in the future.
A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said: “At the moment, there is no Section 104 agreement in place, therefore the waste-water network remains under the private ownership of the developer.
“The Section 104 agreement process is developer led. Although Yorkshire Water can prompt developers to progress their sites towards adoption, we are unable to enforce them to do this.
“It is at the discretion of the developer as to when they do what is needed to progress the site. We would therefore encourage the developer to look to have the Section 104 agreement completed and begin progressing the site towards adoption by Yorkshire Water.
“We sent a reminder to the developers and their legal representation in March, 2026, advising them that Section 104 application has to be completed.
“Whilst the Section 104 application remains outstanding, the sewers on site are still under the private ownership of the developer and remain their responsibility.”
Vistry Partnerships has apologised for how long it has taken to resolve the matter but it insists it has been chasing all relevant parties to progress an agreement.
A Vistry spokesperson said: “We understand residents’ frustrations and we’re sorry this matter has taken longer than anyone would want to resolve.
“Yorkshire Water provided conditional approval, technical acceptance for the Section 104 sewer adoption application in 2021, subject to a legally binding agreement being completed and any agreed remediation works being carried out. Since then, we have been actively chasing all relevant parties to progress the Section 104 agreement.
“The agreement requires signatures from several organisations, including Homes England, the NHS, Sage Homes, NHBC and Yorkshire Water and this is almost complete.
“Once the agreement is finalised, we will be able to undertake any final works required and begin the inspection process with Yorkshire Water, with a view to the drainage being adopted as part of the official sewer network.
“In the meantime, while the works remain unadopted, Vistry continues to carry out monthly inspections and attends as necessary to ensure the area is safe.
“We will continue to work with all parties to conclude the agreement as quickly as possible and will provide an update on progress when we are able to do so.”
Derbyshire County Cllr Charlotte Hill, Cabinet Member for Potholes, Highways and Transport, explained there are outstanding drainage issues on the site and the sewers must first be adopted by the water authority before the council can formally adopt the roads.
Cllr Hill said: “This work sits outside of our control and must be completed before we can move forward with the process of adopting the roads.
“The council holds a bond from the developer to cover the cost of bringing the roads up to an adoptable standard if required, but this funding is limited.
“If we were to carry out road repairs before the drainage issues are resolved, there is a risk that further works by the water authority would need the roads digging up, meaning we would have to go back and carry out any necessary repairs. This could leave insufficient bond money to complete the works needed for adoption.
“This is why it’s important this is all done in the right order. We will continue to pursue the matter with the developer and Yorkshire Water to reach a resolution as soon as possible. However, responsibility for the roads currently remains with the developer.”
