Council defend town centre improvement works

WARRINGTON Council has defended the town centre improvements taking place on Bridge Street after some traders claimed they faced being put out of business following a down turn in trade of up to 90 per cent!
The council says the £500,000 improvement scheme, as a whole, is on target to be complete on time two weeks from now and there have been no delays in the programme as it was advertised.
A council spokesperson said: “The road is still to be resurfaced and this will be undertaken after the footway is complete.
“With any scheme in a town centre location such as this progress can take longer than in other, less busy, areas due to the need to maintain access.
“Therefore the timescale for completion and construction of this scheme was appropriate given the site conditions and location.
“There has been some localised flag lifting, but only around lamp columns where the old column has been taken out and a new one put back. This is a planned activity to ensure no unfinished surfacing or holes are left around lamp columns, which might cause passing pedestrians to trip during construction of the footways.
“Full access has been maintained to all businesses throughout the scheme, with work being programmed around the various opening times of the affected businesses. No road closures or footway closures have been in place during the progress of the scheme. Although as with any scheme there will inevitably be some disruption while works are ongoing, access to trade has not been compromised.”
The council had not received any complaints from anyone regarding the attitude of the workforce on this scheme, either via our contact centre or directly with the supervisors who regularly visit site. Any such complaints would be investigated.
The spokesperson added: “With any construction of this nature there will be a lot of construction material to move in and out of the area. Old flags and tarmac need to be stockpiled and removed and new materials also need to be brought in. Maintaining access to businesses also means that areas need a lot of barriers to safely cordon off materials during the construction. This can make an area look untidy, but the area has always been and remains safe and accessible with regular sweeping of the area at the end of the day.
“The council has a legal duty to maintain the highway, and is not obliged to compensate businesses while fulfilling this duty.
“If the council did have to pay compensation in such cases, the cost to the taxpayer could be huge, to the detriment of other council services.
But in any case, it is more than likely that the overall improvements this regeneration will bring to Lower Bridge Street and the town as a whole will help boost trade.”