Residents' misery as resurfaced street to be dug up once more

Published on Wednesday 15 July 2009 10:09

A STREET resurfaced less than a year ago after a five-year campaign by residents is set to be dug up again.

Homeowners living in Pirniefield Gardens and nearby Pirniefield Grove fought for years to have the badly potholed road repaired after a string of accidents involving pedestrians.

But less than a year after the work was completed, utility firm Scotland Gas Networks is now set to dig up the Leith street all over again to replace ageing pipes. William Nimmo, a 79-year-old resident of Pirniefield Gardens, said work to resurface his street was finally finished last summer following years of complaints.

He said: "The road was terrible, they were forever coming out and putting patches of tar on it after people had fallen over. It just went on and on like that.

"We finally get a nice new road and now they want to dig it up again. I spoke to the council and they said there was nothing they could do about it. It's scandalous."

Scotland Gas Networks said it was spending 200,000 on replacing more than half a mile of gas mains starting from the first week of September.

However, a spokesman for the company said a technique called "live insertion" was being used to directly insert new plastic mains into the older pipes to minimise the amount of digging needed.

The company is currently carrying out a 20-year project to replace around half of Edinburgh's 850-mile gas main network after a ruling from the Health and Safety Executive that old iron mains had to be replaced with new plastic pipes.

A city council spokesman said: "Following a number of gas escapes on Pirniefield Gardens, SGN investigated the cause and subsequently requested permission to replace a section of pipe. Being a matter of public safety, we agreed."

Furious motorists were forced to endure roadworks misery earlier this year when Scottish Water began digging up Queensferry Road just one month after Scotland Gas Networks had ripped up the street.

Recent figures showed that around one in eight road repairs carried out by utility firms in Edinburgh is botched and needs to be redone. Council officials surveyed 1000 sets of works belonging to major firms, and found 130 failed to meet reinstatement standards.

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