Footway scheme delayed as council use wrong materials
October 11, 2009 11:38 AM
The county council almost set out to tarmac the whole of this historic area.
A long-awaited scheme to improve the footways in Russellcroft Rd WGC was delayed as the Herts Highways turned up ready to tarmac the whole area.
'It is a long-standing policy to continue to use paving slabs within Conservation Areas unless there is an agreement to vary this' said the local LibDem county councillor, Malcolm Cowan. Welwyn Garden City's Conservation Area is one of the largest and best-known, so I was shocked when I was tipped off that the contractors were ripping up slabs and replacing them with tarmac. Even the contractors told me it looked odd to be using tarmac.
'I immediately phoned the head of Herts Highways and got the work stopped, and a promise to go back to using slabs. It is only a couple of years since a similar case arose in nearby Bridge Road, so I would have expected everyone to be aware of the policy. It does seem that some engineers are unaware of the Conservation Area and that is a real problem. Herts Highways also failed to send me the neighbour notification letter that might have helped resolve this before work started.
'I am pleased that the error has been recognised so readily and I hope work is resumed as soon as possible' concluded Malcolm.
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