Sible Hedingham: Gigaclear plans to dig up £17,000 road

Residents in Brook Terrace, Sible Hedingham, feared Gigaclear could dig a trench along the private road to install the business’s fibre wiring for the street.

It comes after residents spent roughly £17,000 to have the road fixed by Colne Contracts LTD back in 2020. 

Gladys Baster, who has lived in Brook Terrace for more than 30 years, said before the work the road was in a state of disrepair. 

Not happy - Resident Gladys Baster (Image: Gladys Baster)

She said: “Years ago, before we moved in, the road was fine, then there was a water mains breakage or something like that at the top of the road which washed the top of the road away.

"It was all potholes, and everyone lived with it for years, as time went on, it just deteriorated, it got to the point where we thought let’s just get it sorted ourselves.”

Before - A photo showing the previous poor state of Brook Terrace (Image: Public)

However, the residents discovered a Gigaclear notice dated January 11 calling for the landowner of Brook Terrace to touch base with the company.

It said if the landowner did not touch base with the internet provider within 28 days, then Gigaclear was legally allowed to carry out work to install the wiring underneath the road without permission.

The residents have been trying to find and contact the last known landowner but have had no successful in locating the man.

Now - How Brook Terrace currently looks after it was resurfaced (Image: Public)

Information - The Gigaclear notice (Image: Public)

Gladys said: “We’ve all said we don’t want this done.

“We are absolutely livid, we are all so cross, we do not want it.

“We have a few older residents that would have to navigate trenches. If it goes ahead, it would be an inconvenience.”

But a spokesman for Gigaclear has now clarified the road will not be dug up.

They said: “We’re very sorry to learn of the historic pothole/road surface issues experienced by the residents in Brook Terrace.

"I can confirm that we do not intend digging up the new road surface.

"Gigaclear makes every effort to use existing poles and underground ducting when laying our fibre cables.

"We do this because it is quicker, more cost effective and less disruptive. However, there are situations when this is not possible.

"In the case of Brook Terrace, we’ll be digging for a short stretch, past four properties, to enable us to reach existing infrastructure in the road.

"The section we plan to dig will not infringe on the new road surface."

The work was due to begin this week.