Mill Road: cable company told to stop roadworks blighting shops reopening

A broadband cable company has been told to stop a series of roadworks along Mill Road which have blighted the reopening of shops and businesses this week.

The Cambridge Independent asked the county council why they had approved the Cityfibre roadworks to go ahead on the day that non essential shops were allowed to reopen (Monday).

Now the council has revoked its approval after businesses blasted as “diabolical” the disruption caused by drilling and digging, clouds of dust and difficulty in accessing shops from the pavement.

A county council spokesperson said: “Following a request by the county council, the CityFibre work on Mill Road has been suspended. We will be discussing with CityFibre to agree when they can return to Mill Road to complete their works.”

John Bull of Cut Price Carpets told the Cambridge Independent about the difficulties. He said: “We were going to put balloons up and throw our doors open for customers, but at 6.30am on Monday the roadworks started across the road from us. The noise and dust from them are incredible, even with the doors shut. We’ve had such an awful time with the lockdowns and Mill Road bridge being closed so people don’t know how to get here any more and worry about parking tickets. Now this happens - with absolutely no notice. It’s diabolical. Do the people who plan these things have no common sense?

Meanwhile Romsey Barbers discovered workers drilling directly outside their front door.

Owner Paul Weaver said: “We received no notice about this. On probably our busiest day ever, the first day after lockdown, we were faced with someone smashing up the pavement outside our front door. There was dust everywhere. We had to clean inside as everything was covered in it. We wanted to leave the doors open for Covid safety but it was impossible because there would have been a sandstorm inside. Why are they doing this now when they have had months to do it during lockdown?”

The roadworks are being carried out by Cityfibre, who said: “We always try our best to minimise disruption wherever possible, especially during the pandemic. Unfortunately, due to the scale and complexity of our build we need to plan works well in advance, and we regret if any businesses on Mill Road may have been affected by the timing.”