Councillor questions cost of lights at sinkhole

SOMERSET Council has spent more money on keeping temporary traffic lights around a sinkhole than it would have cost to actually repair the road, according to a councillor.

- DANIEL MUMBY Local Democracy Reporter

The sinkhole at Station Road, Castle Cary

Issues began emerging in July 2021 on the B3152 Station Road in Castle Cary, close to where Persimmon Homes Severn Valley recently began construction on a new development of 162 homes, commercial space and a new primary school.

Somerset Council put temporary traffic lights in place on the affected stretch (between the junctions with Almsford Close and Victoria Gardens) in July 2024, providing short-term protection for motorists and pedestrians until a more permanent solution was put in place.

But Councillor Henry Hobhouse, inset right, has now revealed that the council has spent more on keeping these traffic lights in place than it would have cost to fix the sinkhole - and that this may not be an isolated incident.