Stone me, what a waste of money as cobbles are dug up (From Surrey Comet)

Stone me, what a waste of money as cobbles are dug up

12:13pm Thursday 12th October 2006

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Shopkeepers and residents are furious with local councillors' decision to dig-up New Malden's expensively redesigned High Street again - just over a year since it was reopened.

The month-long disruption to replace cobble stones along the length of the High Street will heap delays and frustration on traders and motorists alike, with the council admitting some work won't be finished until next spring. The High Street was reopened over a year late in September last year, after a £1.6million redesign. But the cobbles were criticised for making life hard for cyclists in particular.

Ann Blackmore, manager of Pick of the Bunch florists in the High Street, said she only learned of the planned work last week. She said: "We were told on Friday. It hurts our trade again. It's a waste of time."

John Morris, group managing director for Tudor Williams department store, said: "It was a disastrous year last year. The huge disruption to trade has left a hangover. People shopped elsewhere and didn't come back. What we've been left with is a sub-standard piece of work. We're just about getting back to normal so we are very concerned."

Tory leader Councillor Howard Jones, who is on the Maldens and Coombe Neighbourhood Committee which took the decision, said his party had campaigned against the cobbles in the last election and was merely seeing through its promises.

He said: "One of the reasons we won the neighbourhood was because this is a major issue. Part of the neighbourhood programme of New Malden High Street is to resurface as much of the road and make it safe for road users, cyclists and pedestrians."

A council spokesman said the cobbles had not settled properly. She said: "It is considered prudent to remove rather than replace the granite sets on either side of the road and those going across the road but not those in the centre of the road."

Temporary traffic lights will be in operation on the High Street. A council spokesman said some work won't be completed until next spring. "The resurfacing of the road between Kings Avenue and Dukes Avenue will be temporary until British gas carries out replacement of a defective pipe in this section in spring next year. The final resurfacing for this section of road will be completed at that time."

The council is in negotiations with contractors about who should bear the cost of the latest work.

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