Parish councillor says ‘enough is enough’ as cracked and unbalanced paving resulted in broken nose for resident

Councillor Sandie Maitland, vice chair of the Old Duston ward at Duston Parish Council and chair of the community services committee, expressed her disappointment at the state of the paving outside Duston Library and the Community Centre in Pendle Road.

As the paving is owned by West Northamptonshire Council, Cllr Maitland reported it to the local authority on their ‘Fix My Street’ system around a month ago and the Highway Authority replied to say it is not their responsibility.

When asked what prompted her to do something about the unbalanced and broken paving, Cllr Maitland shared that two women of retirement age have recently fallen as a result of it. One broke her nose and had to be kept overnight in hospital for the injuries sustained.

“Enough is enough,” Cllr Maitland told the Chronicle & Echo. “When older people fall, it undermines their confidence in their physical abilities. The damage is not just physical, it is emotional and mental too.”

As Duston Parish Council would like to see the issue resolved, Cllr Maitland expressed her disappointment that no alternative solution or indication of who to contact was provided in WNC’s initial response.

This is not the first time Cllr Maitland has engaged with WNC about paving issues, after months of work to see repairs made at Limehurst Square Shops.

“I’m so fed up with WNC,” she concluded. “Our Parish Council offered to do something about the library slabs but we were told we couldn’t as it is WNC property. It’s a catch 22.”

WNC was approached for comment by this newspaper and a spokesperson issued the following response: “Roads and paths in the West Northamptonshire area either fall within the council’s highways remit, are access pathways to council owned properties or are privately owned.

“The best way to report any issues on a pathway or road is via the Council’s Fix My Street function on our website or on the West Northamptonshire Council app, so that we can investigate and take appropriate measures to solve the issue.

“In relation to the damaged slabs outside of Duston Library, these are managed by our Assets and Environment Service. An inspector went out to assess the area following the reports received and the paving has now been repaired.”

WNC repaired the paving during the five working days that the Chronicle & Echo was awaiting a response to the comment request, and no specific response was provided when asked about the two falls that Cllr Maitland reported.