Roads in a residential estate have been finally adopted by a council after almost a decade of negotiations.

When the estate in Clarendon Park, Epsom, was built in 2000, maintenance of the roads was left to the developers, prompting residents and politicians to campaign for Surrey County Council’s Highways Department to adopt them.

MP for Epsom and Ewell Chris Grayling, local councillors, Clarendon Park Residents’ Association and other groups had a meeting with developers, Thames Water and the chief executive of Epsom and Ewell Council, Frances Rutter, which got the adoption by the county council to finally happen.

Conservative councillor Stephen Pontin, from Ruxley Ward, said: “Chris Grayling and I organised a meeting with all interested parties, members of the residents’ association were also invited, with a view to get us all in a room and say ‘right, these are the obstacles how can we clear them?’ and a week later the roads were all adopted.

“There was an issue to be sorted on the borough between Thames Water, which manages the drainage system and the chief executive, Frances Rutter, and it was all resolved after the meeting.”

According to Coun Pontin, the adoption happened as a result of a joint effort.

He said: “It’s important to emphasize it was a joint thing, not just one particular group who solved the problem, but a lot of groups and individuals who worked very hard for it and thankfully managed to make it happen.”

A statement from Clarendon Park Residents’ Association read: “Whilst several people were involved, the CPRA would like to specifically thank Paul Bending from Taylor Wimpey (developer) for his efforts in making sure the adoption happened. Without his involvement and commitment the adoption would not have happened in 2009, nine years after the first families moved into Clarendon Park.”

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