A Chetwynd business owner has slammed the council for their lack of communication - as plans for roadworks on the A41 were finalised this week.
Peter Spicer of Chetwynd Firs Boarding Kennels & Cattery is still seething about the lack of consultation with residents regarding essential resurfacing maintenance along a two-mile stretch of the trunk road.
As reported in the Advertiser last week, it was confirmed yesterday that the work between Chetwynd Firs and just north of Stanford Bridge will be carried out in phases during the day time.
The first phase of work will begin on November 16 and will see the road closed between Chetwynd Heath and Standford Bridge.
Work will then move to a second section by Sambrook Road, before finishing with phase three beyond the Sambrook/Howle crossroads.
The work will take 13 working days with night time work included if necessary.
The council have reassured business owners along the stretch that customers will be able to gain access at all times - but Mr Spicer still fears for his balance sheet.
He said: “Even with phased work there will still be considerable disruption for our customers.
“Access from the south should be okay, but a lot of our customers come from the north.
“We’re still very much in a recession. The difficulty from our point of view is that if a customer makes a booking we have to tell them about the delays and they may then vote with their feet.
“The prospect of a 11 to 30 mile diversion is not an attractive one.
“The danger is that they may go elsewhere and then never come back with us.
“I appreciate that the work needs to be done. But the fact that the contractors failed to consult the people in the area and failed to publicise the plans is nothing less than incompetent.
“I just hope that the council have learned their lesson and will keep residents up to date in the future.”
The work was due to start last month but was postponed at the last minute following a public outcry.
Residents called for the work to be completed during the night, but this option was ruled out as too expensive.
Councillor Steve Bentley, Cabinet member for environment said: “We have done further work to look at options for limiting the impact of the road works on local residents, businesses and road users.
“We have investigated in detail the option of doing work at night and opening the road to traffic during the day, but unfortunately this option would be far more costly and mean that it takes much longer to complete the work, as well as being very noisy through the night for local residents.
“We know that the work will cause some inconvenience to residents and businesses and we are doing all we can to keep disruption to a minimum”.
There will be no further public meetings to discuss the decision.
By Sean Wozencroft
