Affinity Water facing fine after setting up road works in Sawbridgeworth without permission

A water company is facing a fine and has been accused of “shocking mismanagement” after installing road works on the main road in Sawbridgeworth without permission and causing traffic mayhem.

Temporary three-way traffic signals appeared at the junction of the A1184 Harlow Road and High Wych Road on Sunday (August 18) – after highways authority Hertfordshire County Council had REFUSED a request for them.

Sawbridgeworth’s Herts county councillor, Eric Buckmaster, visited the site and reported the lights had been installed for Affinity Water work – but no workers were on site.

Cllr Buckmaster, who is also an East Herts Council representative for Sawbridgeworth and a town council member, reported the issue to the county council’s network management team.

He later posted a response from the team as follows: “We have contacted Affinity Water and instructed them to have the lights removed as a matter of urgency.

“Affinity Water have confirmed that the lights were associated with a permit that we refused, but unfortunately this was not relayed to their traffic management company, who subsequently installed the lights without a granted permit.”

The statement went on: “We’re raising this failure with the street works manager at Affinity Water to ensure a similar occurrence does not happen again in the future.

“In addition, Affinity Water will be issued with a financial penalty notice for installing traffic management without a granted permit.”

The chaos was made worse for motorists wishing to travel to Harlow by closure of a carriageway in Edinburgh Way. A Bishop’s Stortford resident posted it had taken him one-and-a-half hours to get from St Michael’s Mead to Harlow.

It also comes days after Essex County Council admitted its much-heralded new multi-million-pound junction at Harlow Mill, connecting Cambridge Road with River Way, had to be closed due to a “technical legal issue regarding the transfer of land”.

Affinity has been lambasted by Cllr Buckmaster previously as being a “law unto themselves” after he reported them for digging a hole in Station Road, Sawbridgeworth in May 2023 and leaving without carrying out any work. The company also closed the main road outside the Central Co-op in February 2023 without permission – again causing traffic mayhem.

Cllr Buckmaster told the Indie on Tuesday (Aug 20) he has raised the issue with senior directors at Herts County Council and his cabinet colleagues at highways.

“I will discuss the situation and what further action can be taken at my next one-to-one meeting with the executive director,” said Cllr Buckmaster, adding: “It is shocking mismanagement by Affinity.”