Work is planned for removal of cobbles on shopping street

The scheme will see the cobbles removed along Queen Street and replaced with an alternative surface.

Discussions took place at last month’s traffic-flow meeting – which included members of the town council, other town representatives and the county council – about options for a new surface.

There was agreement that the surface should be easy to maintain, functional and good for pedestrians. At Thursday’s town council meeting, Coun Helen Lewis said: “We want something that lasts and won’t cost a fortune. A different shade of Tarmac would be preferable.”

At the traffic-flow meeting, it was queried whether any work on the pavements would be carried out in conjunction with this.

Informing members, Coun Lewis updated, saying: “They won’t do any work to the pavements unless it is remedial. They will clean out all of the drainage channels.”

The painting of the street furniture will be included in the scheme. To allow for the work, a road closure has been applied for from January through to March, although the work is not expected to take any longer than a week in total.

○ At a previous traffic-flow meeting, the frequency of Civil Enforcement Officer visits had been queried.

County-council infrastructure manager Ruth Bendell said that the visits are monthly and approximately 200 penalty charge notices are issued each month, apart from during the summer when the parking order had expired.