There was one particular headline which caught my eye this week - and for once I have to admit it wasn't one of our own.

'Utility companies and councils cause chaos with over-run repairs' ran The Times on Monday in a story looking at how 'contractors are causing chaos and leaving streets in a crumbling state' because they are not getting their work done on time.

Anyone living in or around the village of Hethersett, as I do, can probably at this point hazard a guess the particular issue I'm planning to delve head first into today.

You see, just moments prior to reading that story, I had spent a frustrating 15 minutes queued up on the old Wymondham to Norwich road just outside my home village for what feels like at least the thousandth time since I moved there three years ago.

For reasons that I cannot fathom, there is one particular small stretch of that part of the B1172 which warrants more attention by contractors than last week's arrival of Prince Louis Arthur Charles.

Every couple of months myself, and no doubt scores of other drivers, breathe a sigh of relief as we turn to see the rare sight of a clear and unobstructed road as we head towards Thickthorn roundabout.

But lo and behold, it's normally only a few weeks later and the dreaded advance warning sign goes up, followed by traffic lights, orange cones and tedious queues snaking both ways in and out of the village. Every now and then we even see workmen on the site.

To cap it off, the other end of the village is also being hamstrung by a two-month road closure so the dreaded Norwich to Wymondham cycle lane can be put in place. Or my own personal running track as I like to call it, given the lack of cyclists using the section that has already been built.

Our otherwise wonderful village is currently in the midst of great change and has hundreds of new homes sprouting up all over the place and I can only assume the B1172 work is connected to some of the development happening nearby. Either that or they've struck gold down there.

And while I don't have anything against such growth, it galls that a village which is prepared to provide so much help in meeting Norfolk's housing targets, seems to get so little back when it comes to planning and prioritising infrastructure projects.

And why can't those behind such work plan them properly so that people living in communities ripe for development don't feel like they are being invaded by diggers and men in orange coats at every angle possible?