by Ray George (Continued)
The work in 1995 included, at the entrances of Ethelburt Avenue, strips of tarmac and 15mph speed signs. We were dismayed by the rapid deterioration in wet weather and early in the new year demanded that the contractors put things right. This proved to be of no avail as they had gone into liquidation. Fortunately, we had not made the final payment.
During 1996, John Scoates and Maurice Drake did much hard work repairing the drain on the inner side of the bend at the top of Ethelburt Avenue, broken when the TV cables were laid. Working drains are so crucial. Substantial road repair was undertaken by a contractor in mid 1997 and another at the end of 1998. We intended the contractor to carry out 6 monthly maintenance but this petered out after the first. With a depleted repair fund, the 1999 AGM introduced a payment of £20 per year from each house for the following year; a system that continues to this day. The 2000 AGM revitalised the Road Repair Sub-Committee: Steve MacKenzie and Dan Leech-Wilkinson joined Robert Williams. They established the program of regular maintenance by teams of volunteers and restoration of the lost verges planted with new trees. The contribution in 2001 was raised to £35 to pay for 15m of new tarmac at the Stoneham Lane end (the contractor laid it 1m wider than was intended).
Before the start of the 2003 AGM, there was a separate meeting for Ethelburt Avenue residents on road improvement. The Repair Sub-committee was renamed the Ethelburt Avenue Road Improvement Group with Godfrey Collyer and Chris Law as joint chair. John Dixon led his first road maintenance working party on 31st January 2004. We hope he enjoys his “retirement”!