A South Essex MP has called for a meeting with the boss of a utility company, to discuss
massive disruption caused by roadworks in his constituency.
Utility company Cadent are carrying out gas pipe replacement works, in Hockley, currently
due to last 38 weeks. This is leading to major delays for motorists in and around the village,
which some local residents have now nicknamed “Blockley” in frustration.
Following a recent drive around the area, to experience the problems for himself, local MP
for Rayleigh and Wickford, Mark Francois, has now written to the chief executive of Cadent,
Steve Fraser, to request an urgent meeting, to see if anything can be done to speed the
roadworks up.
Commenting on the situation, Mark said:
“My Hockley constituents are now pretty fed up with Cadent, as are many others who have to
drive through the village, to get to and from work. That’s why I have requested an urgent
meeting with Steve Fraser, Cadent’s CEO, to see if there ‘s any way they can accelerate these
roadworks, for instance by deploying more engineers onto the job. With sufficient will, there
has to be a quicker way of doing this.”
