A pothole ridden street at the centre of a “derelict” estate that went viral on TikTok will be adopted by the local council.
Footage of the street, at Primrose Court in Huyton, was viewed millions of times earlier this year after being uploaded to the social media platform – with people shocked at its state.
Anti-social behaviour, gangs, fly-tipping and arson had long blighted Primrose Court, where many of the houses have ended up abandoned and boarded up.
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The problems began when the estate was first built over 15 years ago. With two developers associated with the scheme going bust before construction was even completed, key parts of the street furniture, including kerbs and lighting were never installed.
The road was not adopted either, which meant responsibility for its upkeep fell to the residents rather than the council.
Earlier this year, Knowsley Council announced it would be carrying out remedial works to improve the state of the estate, using £367k of money earmarked from the government’s Safer Streets fund through the police commissioner.
The money, set aside to be spent on crime prevention and security measures would be spent on installing CCTV, street lighting and fencing.
Security devices for residents, money to tackling fly tipping and improvements to the area’s green spaces was also part of the remit.
At the time, Merseyside Police’s deputy chief constable Ian Critchley said he hoped the measures would “restore pride in the area, help us detect criminality and bring offenders to justice, and ultimately deter anti-social behaviour”.
Now Knowsley Council have submitted a report detailing plans to bring the street into council control – a process knowing as adoption – which would then make its upkeep the responsibility of the borough.
In a delegated decision report from October, the road was described as being in a “poor condition” with “potholes visible and poor resurfacing recorded” and a lack of street lightening which is “further impacting on the safety of users and residents of the road.”
According to the report Knowsley Council executive directors responsible for regeneration and resources agreed “to ensure the safety of the users of the road known as Primrose Court” by carrying out work to make good the road.
Works will include “removing the sub-standard carriageway and installation of street lighting to ensure the safety of all road users and residents".
Work carried out will include creating new footpaths and kerbs, refreshing the surfacing and carrying out some structural repairs to bring the road up to adopted standards.
With the funding for this coming from the government, Knowsley residents will not bear any of the nearly £370k cost for the work to be carried out – although future maintenance will be covered as part of the council’s highways responsibilities.
The council will write to all tenants affected by the decision, and once work has been carried out, and will have three months from completion to declare the street a public road.
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