Article: Roads - adoption agreements Article Body A private street is a road which is not maintained at public expense. This means that Barnsley Council, as highway authority, is under no obligation to carry out repairs or clean the street. New roads which have been constructed in accordance with the council's guidelines are normally adopted by way of an agreement between the council and the developer, under Section 38 of the Highway Act 1980. Existing private streets will not be adopted by the council, as highway authority, unless they are brought up to current highway standards. These roads may be unpaved, without footways and kerbs, lighting, drainage, and so on. The surface will usually be in a poor condition. The council will prepare an estimate to anyone wishing to make a private street up to adoptable standards. The council has a small annual revenue budget for carrying out make safe repairs to private streets. You can request information regarding a private street. Please provide as much information as possible as to the location of the private street, for example, house numbers, rear of properties, and so on. For further information and / or advice please contact the council: by email to roads@barnsley.gov.uk by telephone on 01226 773555 (24 hours) by writing to Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council, Environmental Services, PO Box 601, Barnsley, S70 9FA Following a request concerning the condition of a private street the council will consider what action can be taken, and provide advice to those responsible for the maintenance of the street. The council currently has a policy of not providing finance to assist in the making up of private streets. The majority of funding required needs to be provided by the owners of the street. Within a month information will be given on what action can be taken concerning the private street. Legislation relating to highways can be found in the Highways Act 1980 We are committed to providing a good quality service to our customers and have published a service standard document that sets out what you can expect from our service, our response times and how you can provide us with feedback on how well we are performing.