Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
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Nigel Myers, head of statutory streetworks at Virgin Media, says that out of the 174 highways authorities where his company works, just over half (96) operate a permitting system. Steve Burley, streetworks strategy and compliance manager at Anglian Water, says the permit regime can be helpful. "There is more co-ordination and communication with highways. Instead of us just putting in a notification and doing the job they come back to us if they want to change dates." However, one of the big complaints from the industry is the inconsistent way that permit schemes work. Thomas Ward, head of business defence and dispute resolution at the Ipswich-based law firm Olivers Solicitors, says he sees "big variances" across the country in his work as a solicitor specialising in streetworks disputes. "You can have two neighbouring authorities who will apply the legislation and regulatory functions in completely different fashions, so there will be a complete absence of consistency," he says. "Neighbouring authorities will provide two set of requirements for identical works. Scale that up and larger utility companies will be working with 100-plus different interpretations. It becomes very difficult." Virgin's Myers says that part of the problem is that the TMA itself is open to interpretation, which leads to variations in how it is implemented. And highways authorities hold the whip hand when deciding whether permits should be issued. Anita Solanki, head of streetworks policy at contractor Kier's utility business, says: "You are stuck between a rock and hard place trying to deliver for the customer and complying with the rules. If you don't meet you those [conditions], you don't get your permit granted." These gripes are echoed when it comes to the way councils exploit their charging powers. Since 2010, governments have increased the fines that highway authorities may impose for over-running works. For the busiest streets, the maximum councils can charge is £5,000 a day during the first three days of overruns. Thereaœer, the fine rockets to £10,000 a day. Ward says: "Authorities have been placed under pressure by central government to look to their own resources, and central government has provided local authorities with the means of providing a revenue stream from works they undertake." Burley argues that highways The pros and cons of permit schemes Even with the permitting powers, many councils still don't feel they have sufficient powers to prevent disruption on their road networks. Originally introduced by the last Labour government, lane rental schemes are designed to discourage utilities from digging roads when they are busiest. Essentially an evolution of the permit regime, companies rent road space but can avoid high charges by carrying out works during quieter periods such as overnight. In 2012 the government announced that there would be three pilot schemes to trial the lane rental concept. Highways authorities would be able to charge £2,500 a day to utility companies to dig up the busiest roads during peak times. However, only two highways authorities have so far volunteered to undertake LRS pilot projects: Kent and Transport for London (TfL). The first pilot scheme covered 200 miles of roads in the capital run by TfL. A study of the scheme, published in 2014, found that following the introduction of the scheme, around 90 per cent of utility works and 99 per cent of works carried out by TfL in the lane rental areas had taken place outside of peak times. However, there were a number of other factors at play and the report did not attribute the success to the LRS. All the main utility companies using the LRS had signed up to the use of rapid drying materials, which Tfl said had considerably reduced the amount of time required to reopen roads and helped to save approximately 2,700 days of disruption across London. Counterbalancing these cost and time savings, the study found that utilities and their contractors had to pay staff more to work unsocial hours. Even the price of accessing some materials was higher out of normal office hours, it found. The Local Government Association, which represents councils throughout England, claims its members are being held back from introducing lane rental schemes by having to obtain approval from the Department for Transport to do so. But Kier's Anita Solanki worries that utilities could be put off from carrying out day-to-day maintenance and refurbishment works if lane rental becomes more common, which could ultimately lead to a deterioration in the quality of assets. "Works would become reactive because of the cost." With a number of questions still to be answered around lane rental schemes, the Department for Transport is expected to begin another evaluation of the trial projects shortly. authorities are increasingly nit-picking about what they can charge for. "Charges were bought into make sure that sites were cleared and signs and cones removed but some highways authorities are laying charges if we've leœ a stain on the road. The charges don't reflect the disruption caused. They're no longer being used for what they were designed for, which was to keep traffic flowing. They're being used as a revenue stream." David Latham, highway policy and inspections manager at Kent County Council, insists, though, that local authorities are not using utilities as cash cows. "If we charge, we will provide the resource. A contribution from the utilities helps with that equation. "A majority of authorities act in a responsible way. It's always the few that push their luck a bit that cause a perception of a poor reputation." Latham, who is also co-chair of HAUC (Highways Authorities and Utilities Committee) England, says the utilities industry must understand the pressures councillors face from constituents fed up with delays. Stability is what people want, rather than wheezes like former transport secretary Sir Patrick McLoughlin's plan to introduce seven day a week streetworks, which was dropped by his successor Chris Grayling last month (March). Ward says the last thing the streetworks scene needs is fresh legislation. "We have a lot of legislation and it doesn't work. Some legislation could do with being refined, but there is uncertainty about what existing legislation can do and uncertainty about how it should be applied." Kent's Latham argues that it is in the interest of both highways authorities and utility companies to ensure that there is little disruption as possible. "What a utility does impacts a highway authority and what a highway authority does impacts on a utility: we all stand or fall together." www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | MAY 2017 | 29