Town Centre Improvements

[grahame]

Who's kidding who? - It was tough at the end of last year for busiesses that had the street closed completely for four weeks, then four weeks again in the new year.   And it's tough at the moment for the businesses who have roadworks right outside ... and there's 13 weeks of disruption.   On thing is for sure - it is NOT business as usual.   You can't just make it business as usual by putting a sign up and pretending ... it's not a pantomime.

OK - point made.

Now - will it be worth it in the long term?   Is a shorter complete closure better than a longer partial one?   What do you thing before we get the next set (because we will, for sure ... the works have other phases to go.)

[I Likes Melksham]

I don't know everything they are planning to do, nor am I an engineer. But seeing how quickly the works are being done for the pedestrian walks for George Ward, the road works between here and Devizes, and the road works outside Lidl, I have to wonder...

• Did the council get bids from various companies?
• If so, what was the criteria to choose this company?
  
  • Was it lowest cost?
  • Shortest time?
  • Or was it a company affiliated with the council and the motions of getting other bids just a technicality?

Certainly the cost to local businesses have to be taken into consideration when working out what a job will cost. Did they estimate how much disruption it would be? Did they plan works according to when business is naturally slow or busy?

There is a certain amount of disruption expected. But the timing of the works make no sense. Last year it was planned during the busy Christmas season. This year it's just as we're coming out of a long slump.

It just makes me wonder if the job was awarded to save pence, when it's actually costing pounds.

[grahame]

I don't have answers either ... but I do wonder how it was possible for the roadwork outside the new Lidl store, which opened about a year ago now and seem to be of the same order of magnitude as the current set in the High Street to be completed in 3 or 4 days as opposed to 13 weeks.