Blunder by contractors leaves Raven Inn cut off from Culcheth community

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A blunder by highway contractors has left the Raven Inn pub at Glazebury cut off from the neighbouring Culcheth community by road from 7pm weekday evenings with no notice.

Now the community-run pub has to assess the impact on trade and make the “appropriate decisions” in the coming days, with the road closure set to be in place for up to six weeks.

It follows contractors making an error and starting Phase 2 of the works first, yesterday, when the pub was closed, instead of Phase 1.

While the pub can still be accessed from the East Lancs Road side of the closures, no one will be able to access the Raven Inn from Culcheth after 7 pm by car, although there will still be access for pedestrians.

Raven Inn spokesperson Peter Sturman said: “Warrington Borough Council have always supported the fight to save the Raven Inn, which started over five and a half years ago. The Raven Inn community pub had always been very grateful for that.
“But this episode is very disappointing.
“This work was scoped over a year ago. It would have been obvious there was a pub in the middle of the roadworks, indeed part of the work involves making the Raven car park inaccessible by resurfacing the ‘footpath’ section of the Raven driveway.
“Yet the council did not see the need to consult with or give advance notice to, the Raven. It should have been obvious that the roadworks would negatively affect the business of the Raven.
“We do not seek or expect any special treatment. We should have been given the opportunity to plan for the disruption to our trade, in advance.

Peter added: “We contacted the Environment & Transport Directorate at Warrington Borough Council, to seek clarification regarding accessibility to and from the Raven Inn for vehicular traffic. “We were aware of a particular problem for vehicles coming from Culcheth direction.
“The initial indication was that vehicles would be allowed, at the discretion of the contractor.
“We spoke to the contractor on their first day and they said no vehicles would be allowed access to the Raven after 7 pm on weekday evenings.
“We had asked the council for contact details of the contractor before work started. Those details were not forthcoming.

“We have been in liaison with the council again today. It transpires some of the problems with the mixed messages are because the contractor has started work on the wrong section of the road.
“We were all informed of two 2 phases of work. Apparently, the contractor has mistakenly started on phase 2. The section that includes the Raven Inn.

“This is a particularly difficult time for all licensed premises. Recently a pub in Glazebury has been ’for let’. We have seen three licensed premises in Culcheth close down. The Raven Inn is not insulated from the nationwide difficulties. Having our trade negatively disrupted is the last thing we need.
“We now have to assess the impact upon our trade and make the appropriate decisions”.

A Warrington Borough Council spokesperson said. “We can confirm that, while the works on Warrington Road are being carried out, there will be no vehicular access to the Raven Inn for people coming from the direction of Culcheth. Anyone going to the pub after 7 pm will need to come in and go out from the East Lancs Road until both phases of this scheme are completed.
“We apologise for the short-term disruption while this essential work is carried out. The contractors are taking steps to complete the work as quickly as possible.”


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