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Outrage over state of estate roads
Residents on a Corby estate are demanding council tax rebates because their roads have still to be adopted five years after they were built.
Oakley Vale residents are angry at having to pay full council tax despite not benefiting from all services because their streets are not publicly owned.
Corby MP Phil Hope has added his support and written to county council chief executive Katherine Kerswell to make sure the issue is not ignored.
He said legal action could secure reductions in the county council element of the council tax because the value of people's homes can be affected and the authority is not spending money maintaining the roads.
More than 1,000 people have signed a petition calling for answers.
Mr Hope said: "The residents should not have to pay for services they do not receive. Hundreds of residents of Oakley Vale are worried the county council is going to shelve this issue.
"It is two months since I last heard from Katherine Kerswell so I am again pressing her to take action to adopt the roads in the area.
"I have investigated ways in which the county council might be able to secure reductions in council tax for residents of Oakley Vale affected by the un-adoption of the roads."
The first roads on Oakley Vale were completed 15 years ago.
Oakley Vale Community Association chairman Judy Caine said: "The residents of Oakley Vale are not going to put up with this for much longer.
"We are very unhappy with the state of the roads.
"We've called a big meeting for July 8 to discuss this and other issues.
"The lack of gritting caused a significant problem when the bad weather came earlier in the year. There's also the council tax issue."
A spokesman from Northamptonshire County Council said: "We are aware of the issues surrounding road adoption in Oakley Vale. We welcome Mr Hope's comments and will be going through them to explore his suggestions in more detail."
Before the roads can be adopted, the county council and developers need to sign a section 38 agreement that deals with land dedication necessary in order to adopt a road.
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Monday 13 February 2012
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