Neighbours driven potty in war over city's worst road

A PLUSH street in Morningside is home to the city's most potholed road - because of a row over whether to fix it.

The private road is in such a bad condition that the council has refused to take it over unless residents pay 200,000 for rebuilding.

But the doctors, academics and other professionals who live in Craighouse Avenue cannot agree whether to do anything about it.

Most are tired of getting huge garage bills to fix their cars, but others like the state of the road because it keeps traffic speed down.

The street is in the EH10 post code area, which has the third highest concentration of millionaires per head in Scotland.

The road is owned by a nursing home in the street, Ashley Court. Residents of the street have right of access but should pay for maintenance in return.

However, for the past three decades, no repairs have been carried out because neither the nursing home nor residents can agree who should pay. The past two severe winters have left the street deeply cratered along its entire length and almost undriveable.

Susan White, 37, a self-employed actuary, moved into the street a year ago.

She said: "It's an absolute disaster, it's a disgrace. Everybody tells me that it is the nursing home that owns the road and it is therefore their responsibility.

"The council should ensure that they (the nursing home] maintain the road."

Lorraine Dunbar, a mother of two, has just had to pay 500 for new tyres.

She said: "We actually put four really good tyres on and within a year they needed replaced because the tracking had gone.

"I would like to see the road improved to increase the house valuation and reduce car damage."

But Dr Peter Gibson, a retired zoologist, is against repairing the road because traffic speeds will increase.

He said: "Some people have commented that they will never sell their house because of the roads and have filled in some of the holes themselves with rubble. Some people, like myself, quite like it."

Zoe Hutchison, 18, has lived there all her life. She said: "I've been able to play in the street safely because it doesn't have cars tearing up and down. Across the street there is a tree house where I used to play, it's a quiet street and a good atmosphere."

But the state of the road is starting to become a problem as she gets older. She said that when she was learning to drive, her instructor would only let her get behind the wheel at the end of the street. She added: "It's a pain, especially when using a taxi at the end of a night out - the taxi driver just sighs."

The city council confirmed it wanted to take over - or "adopt" - the maintenance of Craighouse Avenue, but the road would have to be completely rebuilt first.

An insider said: "At the moment, there is no road to adopt. It would have to be rebuilt before it could be adopted by us. That is the responsibility of the owners although we would be available to advise them."

A spokeswoman for Ashley Court said: "There have been a number of discussions with the residents over the years and unfortunately there has never been complete agreement on the way forward. We are aware of the current state of the road and are looking into the matter."