SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

Around where I live in Beeston the old stone pavements are currently being replaced with tarmac ones, and I'm just wondering if anyone knows if this is happening all over Leeds, and why? I suppose the tarmac is easier to maintain and safer for pedestrians (less likely to crack etc), but it doesn't look anywhere near as good. I'm also wondering what will happen to all those nice stone flags that are being removed ...

At least if their putting down tarmac then it's official workmen. It's time to worry when they just lift the flags and then vanish. I guess that answers your question as well. A lot of those stone flags are stolen by the Pikies, quite often than not they have hi viz and vans. They can be hard to tell who is legit. Also they are harder to maintain (weeding, repointing, uneveness e.t.c)Those flags no doubt will be sold on to stone reclamation yards. They fetch a good price and will end up in someones very nice back garden in the posh suburbs. So it's really official theft and vandalism in a way I guess.        

I think the culture we live in now is to blame. People claiming that they tripped on a uneven flag must cost councils £millions

Combination of both i think. Yes we have compensation culture but yorkshire stone flags are worth a fortune as my late mum in law found out as she woke up to find her whole road had had them nicked overnight!

Our street ( in Armley ) has been lucky.After the contractors laying TV optical cable left our flags in an appalling state I expected removal and tarmac replacement. It has taken a fair number of years, but about six months ago the whole lot was relaid to an excellent standard. I've probably put "the black speck" on it by mentioning it, and the night despoilers will descend on us in the very near future.

The Stone flags were removed to Pottery fields Highways Dept for use in other Conservation Areas.As you are well aware Footpaths are not/should not be used to park or drive vehicles on.Theseactions by inconsiderate drivers result in the Stone/Concrete flagsBreaking and becoming uneven,resulting in possible trips and as already said Compensation Claims.When the govt gave Cable Companies permission to dig up our streets in order to lay Cable ducting nothing was laid down by the Govt that allowed the Local Councils to Monitor the Reinstatement of Footpaths/CarriagewaysProviding they were left safe then basically that was it.Unfortunately the calibre of staff employed by Cable Companiesleft a lot to be desired hence the mess that the local councils are having to put right at enormous expense to rate payers.Whilst on the subject of Roads/Footpaths the Main DrainageDept of LCC was privatised approx 12 years ago and they used to employ 3 Gangs on a rolling programme of replacing ManHole Covers,this has now been passed to private contractors andit is now the situation whereby the Manholes are only replaced when they are deemed to be dangerous.No General Maintenanceis carried out.The Majority of roads are in a sad state of disrepair and one of theMain Factors of this is when a Utility ie Gas,Water,Electric or BTtrench is dug it is Reinstated but the Joint all way round is NOTsealed with Cold Poured Bitumen,this process seals all the joint and does not allow water ingress,which freezes and we know what happens then.Cold Poured Bitumen is cheap,quick to do(it is brushed on) and would remedy in my opinion 75% of all costly reinstatement failures,therefore cutting out 75% of Potholes.     

Leeds-lad wrote: The Stone flags were removed to Pottery fields Highways Dept for use in other Conservation Areas.As you are well aware Footpaths are not/should not be used to park or drive vehicles on.Theseactions by inconsiderate drivers result in the Stone/Concrete flagsBreaking and becoming uneven,resulting in possible trips and as already said Compensation Claims.When the govt gave Cable Companies permission to dig up our streets in order to lay Cable ducting nothing was laid down by the Govt that allowed the Local Councils to Monitor the Reinstatement of Footpaths/CarriagewaysProviding they were left safe then basically that was it.Unfortunately the calibre of staff employed by Cable Companiesleft a lot to be desired hence the mess that the local councils are having to put right at enormous expense to rate payers.Whilst on the subject of Roads/Footpaths the Main DrainageDept of LCC was privatised approx 12 years ago and they used to employ 3 Gangs on a rolling programme of replacing ManHole Covers,this has now been passed to private contractors andit is now the situation whereby the Manholes are only replaced when they are deemed to be dangerous.No General Maintenanceis carried out.The Majority of roads are in a sad state of disrepair and one of theMain Factors of this is when a Utility ie Gas,Water,Electric or BTtrench is dug it is Reinstated but the Joint all way round is NOTsealed with Cold Poured Bitumen,this process seals all the joint and does not allow water ingress,which freezes and we know what happens then.Cold Poured Bitumen is cheap,quick to do(it is brushed on) and would remedy in my opinion 75% of all costly reinstatement failures,therefore cutting out 75% of Potholes.      Well said that man.BT had a QC policy which ensured compliance to the standard you state and employee failure here certainly used to be one of the actions which would lead to formal warnings, doubtless becoming a thing of the past as financial constrainsts become a bigger issue. I'm in agreement too with your implied description of the qualtiy of 'repairs' carried out. Those done (so far) after last winter are already failing once more around me. I would describe the majority of the 'repairs' as applying a plaster over the top which as you describe allows water ingress and the subsequent freezing lifts the lot off again; a deeper reconstruction fiinishing to the apporved code of practice would surely be more cost effective in the longer term - and less of a hazard.    

Recycled Stone used as a sub-base costs approx £5-£6 per ton.Tarmac at the present time is approx £80.00 ton it is therefore fairly obvious which avenue a contractor will take if there is no one tooversee the reinstatement.It is about time that LCC ordered their Inspectors to ask for a percentage of random trial holes to be dug on all works carried out by the Utilites.

Leeds-lad wrote: Recycled Stone used as a sub-base costs approx £5-£6 per ton.Tarmac at the present time is approx £80.00 ton it is therefore fairly obvious which avenue a contractor will take if there is no one tooversee the reinstatement.It is about time that LCC ordered their Inspectors to ask for a percentage of random trial holes to be dug on all works carried out by the Utilites. On a related matter - do Leeds council use inspectors to check the work of utilities and contractors who dig up the roads? Recently I've seen a couple of examples of shocking Tarmac work after pipes or cables were laid. On the Gelderd Road near the Packhorse, an half a mile stretch was dug up then resurfaced to the standard of a ploughed field - someone must have complained because 6 months later the work was redone (wonder who paid!). Similarly, Churwell Hill now has an ugly scare down it where the Tarmac is a good inch below (or above) the rest of the road.    

Leeds Hippo wrote: Leeds-lad wrote: Recycled Stone used as a sub-base costs approx £5-£6 per ton.Tarmac at the present time is approx £80.00 ton it is therefore fairly obvious which avenue a contractor will take if there is no one tooversee the reinstatement.It is about time that LCC ordered their Inspectors to ask for a percentage of random trial holes to be dug on all works carried out by the Utilites. On a related matter - do Leeds council use inspectors to check the work of utilities and contractors who dig up the roads? Recently I've seen a couple of examples of shocking Tarmac work after pipes or cables were laid. On the Gelderd Road near the Packhorse, an half a mile stretch was dug up then resurfaced to the standard of a ploughed field - someone must have complained because 6 months later the work was redone (wonder who paid!). Similarly, Churwell Hill now has an ugly scare down it where the Tarmac is a good inch below (or above) the rest of the road.     LCC used to employ PUSWA inspectors,these employees used to oversee the opening of roadworks by the Utility companies and would check the work periodically to the end product.LCC now employ Highway Inspectors whose job it is to walk the Streets and identify any possible damage to Footpaths/Carriageways that may result in Compensation Claims.If work done by utilities fails then the Contractor is liable,whether this happens is anybodys guess but ultimately we all pay in the end.Not too long ago LCC as an Authority were the only company allowed to close ANY reinstatement work to specified guidelinesthe Utilities lobbied the Govt to stop this Monopoly on their workLaws were passed and they were allowed to employ staff to undertake their own work with the obvious results we see now.Manholes Rocking/SinkingTrenches Too high/Too lowIronwork Too lowPatches Too low/SinkingWhilst a lot of the Public are opposed to Council Workers at least when we were responsible for this work it was done properly and was overseen by Highways Superintendents/PUSWA inspectors.It may have been more costly at the time but in any work you get what you pay for.