Today, we’re looking at the controversial subject of some of the privately owned roads in Blantyre that had by the Millennium got into a poor standard.

With the council choosing not to adopt them previously, expectation was on the residents of each street to look after them. All these photos date from the year 2000.

Streets like Broompark Avenue, no more than a rough track was used for decades before the council adopted as part of the requirement for forming a proper entrance in the flats at Broompark Grove.

Then we also had Woodburn Avenue, New Street, Kerr Street, the top of Victoria Street and bottom of Watson Street, all poorly maintained, covered in potholes, with the council refusing to repair or touch those private roads.

Concessions were made, with some surfacing improvements at New Street and Woodburn Avenue, but the lane at Victoria Street and Watson Street remains untouched.

Are there other private roads in Blantyre which haven’t been adopted by the council yet?

Featuring Blantyre Project Social Media with permission. Strictly not for use by others on or offline, our visitors said:

Janet Cochrane Rosebank Avenue
Cullen Shaw The residents know they’re private roads – it’s their responsibility to maintain them not the council’s
Julie Tabor Victoria street has always been the same for around 45years
Craig Forrest If they are private roads it’s up to the people on them to get them fixed I would be pretty p’d if the council fix them them since they cant do own roads
Carole Mackie Rickard Those in Private roads pay towards the council roads, so why shouldn’t the council contribute to theirs?
Marian Maguire They also pay council tax and if they have to repair them they should be able to restrict who uses them but they can’t you can’t have it both ways, also little known is that on new estates, car parks etc have to be maintained by the residents or factors who will charge a fortune.
Blantyre Project i told you it was a controversial subject. The move over the years has been to slowly adopt them, but there’s usually a very good reason for doing so, such as new developments or having to dig through the area for cabling,lighting,utilities etc.
Elizabeth Grieve All Blantyre roads are a disgrace whether private or council control.
Tracey Muir Woodburn Avenue always had the best puddles for jumping in as a child. I didn’t realize it was a private road.
Catherine Devlin It is a controversial issue, i think that if like the lane at the end of Victoria street where it has been adopted as a public through road, then the council should maintain it, but if it is a private access road into private house or houses only, then these residents would know this at the time of purchase, they cannot just ignore that for years then expect the council to step in.
Rose Jardine Rosebank Ave is a disgrace always has been ,we tried to get council to adopt 40 or more years ago , we all pay council tax some at the higher band , I never understood why never adopted, people don’t even try to park her as the road damages cars. It’s only for the grace of one of our good neighbors. Jim who fills in holes that we can manoeuvre out of street.
Cullen Shaw I don’t quite see what the issue is with private roads. When residents choose to buy a property on one of these roads, the Title Deeds to their property make clear their responsibility for the maintenance to an acceptable standard. They can’t just ignore that and, then, expect the Local Authority to undertake repairs that they’ve chosen to ignore for years.
Alan Craig I remember walking around Rosebank Avenue and you’d think you were on the surface of the moon
Marian Maguire Everyone pays the same council tax for the same comparative house, so all roads should be adopted by the council even if the people in the street have to pay a bit extra. Blantyre should be kept to a standard and instead of destroying the look of the timber houses with inappropriate cladding. Please fix the flats on the Stonefield Road they are a disgrace, goodness know what people passing on buses must think of the place.