Sewers
Dear Editor, I read with interest your recent front-page report on the sinkhole and raw sewage spill on Sandbach Road North in Alsager ("Sinkhole causing a stink on main road"). Residents like John Grint having to keep windows closed in hot weather, tankers queuing day and night, children walking past the mess on their way to school, and the failure to get timely answers from the authorities paint a depressing picture of everyday life in our town. While United Utilities has now issued its standard statement of apology and repair, this incident should prompt wider reflection. Predictably, the quality of local infrastructure in Alsager (and many similar areas) continues to suffer. What looks on the surface like a one-off “collapsed sewer” is in reality the visible symptom of deeper, longer-term problems created by a complex chain of policy decisions at national level. The Labour government’s approach – including aggressively pushing up the minimum wage, imposing b...