Gas mains ‘chaos’ to spread across borough

A massive gas pipe replacement programme which brought chaos to parts of Saddleworth could bring yet more disruption across the borough.

Residents are bracing themselves as teams of workmen dig up sections of roads across the villages turning quiet back waters into ‘bomb sites’.

And at one site, they claim the promised high speed gas repairs have gone to dead slow — causing serious problems for households in Buckley Street, Uppermill.

Work started three weeks ago, and since then, residents claim, workmen have only been on site for up to two hours a day on some occasions.

“It’s so frustrating,” said one homeowner. “The workmen come along, dig for a short time — then vanish. Everyone is complaining.”

Another resident said: “Every time you step out the door, there is another plastic barricade or mound of soil. It’s a real mess.”

Meanwhile, a team of workmen are completing repairs at Lower Turf Lane Springhead which has seen a maze of road works causing traffic problems over recent weeks.

Businessman Bob Marshall said: “They tried to put a mini-roundabout at the junction of Woodbrook Road built of barricade material — but it didn’t work. It looked like something out of ‘Magic Roundabout’.”

National Grid’s programme for the North-West involves replacing 565km of mains in two years at a cost of around £84m.

The work is part of a UK-wide project agreed with the Health and Safety Executive for replacing metallic mains within 30 metres of property with yellow plastic pipe.

A National Grid regional spokesman said: “We have a new approach to mains renewal to ensure all metallic mains in a postcode area are replaced in one visit which is why there is so much work going on in the Oldham area at the moment.

“We appreciate in the short-term there will be some inconvenience, but working in this way actually means all the work is done at once and avoids the need for us to keep returning to the area. In Oldham, approximately 14km of main, valued at around £750,000 will be completed by the end of March.”

National Grid say the works at Buckley Street, which have been investigated by Councillor Christine Wheeler, will be completed this week.

Councillor Wheeler said: “It certainly is a mess but I have been assured all the work, including Tarmac, will be completed this week.”

Commenting on the Springhead site, the National Grid spokesman added: “The mains here are being replaced by using an insertion process which allows us to make several small excavations and insert the new pipe inside the old.

“This removes the need to dig large trenches and is the fastest, least disruptive way of replacing gas mains and allows customers to continue to use gas while the works are being completed.

“We apologise for any inconvenience,” she added. “This major engineering project will ensure gas customers can continue to take for granted the reliability and safety of their gas supply. The works have been carefully planned with the local council.”