Lindley councillors Cahal Burke and Anthony Smith have welcomed Kirklees Council’s decision to resurface Yew Tree Road early next year.

The busy residential road is due to be resurfaced in March or April 2022, following campaigning by the councillors.

The Lindley ward councillors have campaigned for over a year for the road in Birchencliffe to be resurfaced and organised a petition earlier this year, which attracted 59 signatures.

Yew Tree Road will be resurfaced by Kirklees Council via its £23 million road improvement fund. The huge programme of road repairs and upgrades includes major road improvements schemes such as Queensgate in Huddersfield town centre, Leeds Road at Shaw Cross, Dewsbury, and Huddersfield Road through Ravensthorpe.

In addition to the major schemes and road safety projects, over 150 smaller road works are planned this financial year, including Yew Tree Road. A further £18.5 million has been allocated as part of the road improvement fund in 2022-23.

The Lindley Liberal Democrat councillors presented a petition at last month’s full council meeting, calling for road resurfacing and footway and footpath improvements in Lindley, with a particular focus on areas where housing development has taken place.

Presenting the petition at the council meeting, Clr Burke said there was often an increase in works traffic around where new developments were taking place.

While there are conditions as part of planning applications which prevent works traffic going down some residential roads, Clr Burke argued that this is often not enforced.

This means that a number of roads in Lindley, including Yew Tree Road, which have been subject to housing development and works traffic in recent years, are in urgent need for repair.

Clr Burke said: “Yew Tree Road is now a patchwork of bodged repairs and potholes. I’m pleased that the council has made the decision to completely resurface the road, rather than continue to make temporary repairs.

“Lindley has been subject to an enormous amount of development in recent years. Yew Tree Road is a good example of how roads in Lindley have been damaged by years of development works which have left infrastructure stretched.

“Many of our roads and footpaths have suffered from the new housing developments, with increased traffic and works traffic.

“Yew Tree Road has been particularly affected by this, experiencing years of works traffic use, including use by heavy vehicles.

“As Lindley councillors, we have received a number of complaints from local residents and we are delighted that the council has agreed to take action.”

His colleague, Clr Anthony Smith said: “We would like to thank residents who signed our petition.

“We know that there are many other roads and footways in Lindley which are also in a poor condition and are also in need of urgent improvements, so we will continue to work with council officers and residents and we will continue to make the case for repairs and resurfacing along other roads and footways in the Lindley ward as well.

“Improving our roads, footways and footpaths is important for safety reasons but it is also important for connectivity and it helps to support active travel opportunities in the area. Roads and footways provide us with access to employment, social, health and educational services.

“We always invite our residents to contact us if they have concerns about the condition of the roads and footways where they live.”