RESIDENTS of Launceston's Stourscombe Vale will finally have their roads swept and trees maintained after Cornwall Council adopted the last of the estate's roads following years of legal wrangling.
Work began on the new homes more than a decade ago and the developers were legally responsible for maintaining the area while it remained under their ownership.
Les Whaley, chairman of the Stourscombe Residents' Association (SRA), said he was pleased to hear the estate's final roads had been taken over.
These include Campion Close, Honeysuckle Gardens, Buttercup Meadow, Snowdrop Crescent, Cornflower Close and Stourscombe Walk.
"SRA was formed in 2010 to deal with the problems left by developers Wainhomes, Barratt Homes and Redrow under agreements with North Cornwall District Council," said Mr Whaley.
"In the past three years, vice-chairman Peter Lawrence and I have attended many meetings to get the estate adopted and to deal with many problems with roads, drains, lights and so on.
"This has not been easy as the agreements on the building of the three estates date back to 1999 with North Cornwall District Council. As its duties were taken over by Cornwall Council, a lot of research has had to be done on agreements and plans.
"We are pleased to say the SRA had help from our local councillor Jade Farrington and her predecessor Sasha Gillard-Loft, MP Dan Rogerson, Launceston Town Council, and many officers of Cornwall Council in order to get the full adoption which will benefit the council taxpayers of the Stourscombe area."
Jade Farrington, Cornwall councillor for Launceston South, said: "People regularly criticise Cornwall Council, often justifiably, but the residents of Stourscombe have been fighting for years to come under its wing because they believe the developers have failed to provide an adequate level of service.
"Stourscombe Residents' Association and council officers have been battling to get developers to undertake the necessary work so the estate could be adopted, meaning Cornwall Council can now provide basic services like road sweeping.
"It has been extremely frustrating for residents to see developers fail to deliver services, while simultaneously dragging their heels on the adoption process so the responsibility could not be passed to Cornwall Council."
Mr Whaley said the association looked forward to working with Launceston Town Council – which has adopted some of the green spaces – and Cornwall Council over the next few months to get regular street cleaning and trimming of trees, as well as planting trees and spring bulbs and installing a bench.
Miss Gillard-Loft, who worked closely with the SRA and Cornwall Council during her four years as the area's councillor, said she was happy the adoption had finally come to fruition after many years of problems and complications.
