The county council will repair even deeply rutted lanes as they have a duty to do so. It's just a question of money. There was a deeply gouged lane near Bovey in Devon that ended up being TRO'd before repairs took place which transformed the lane (some might say to it's detriment; but at least it's still open and usable).
As for Bamford Clough it could be undertaken by the MCC if they have the intention; there could be some sort of accommodation sought between the MCC, the County Council, the local power distribution company and the power user - even the Ramblers and cyclists groups that use the lane could chip in - to find the funds.
How long is the cable? Where does it go? I can't believe for a minute no one knows! Just switch it off; someone will soon shout. Maybe it's actually illegal or is a remnant from other diversionary works; street lighting? Surely a quick desktop and site recce would reveal all. First of all you need to know the problem before you can apply a fix.
As for actually doing the work, well, section 38 agreements detail how something is done so that would come from DCC highways, and supervision is straightforward if you have the required accreditation so someone from the MCC could oversee the work, the cable itself would probably need to be cut off and a new section laid - that's a trench, a length of cable and two joints, a road crossing and backfill. The cable has to be laid and jointed by the power authorities' people and the timing of that is critical (shutdowns etc) but for the digging/backfilling that's a 5 tonne swing machine and driver, maybe a dumper and driver, a few tones of sand, stone and maybe concrete, plus a few bits of barrier fencing etc. It's not a lot of work; even if it is 100m long. It isn't the new Forth Road crossing.
Unfortunately the usual issues would arise from the lawyers and agents to get the section 38 agreements from the landowners from one side of the road or both (if it was necessary to take the cable out of the road altogether bar a single road crossing). But that's not insurmountable.
What is needed is a concerted effort from all concerned rather than wheedling away at the council, who frankly, have everyone and his dog shouting at them to fix potholes etc with a severely depleted roads budget.
The above are just some thoughts; I'm not suggesting that's not what's already been happening, or that MCC officials have not made the best efforts to get the situation rectified. From here (at a distance I admit) it seems that things could be done with the help of everyone involved.
RH
