TRADERS in Leek are worried that 14 weeks of work to improve the Market Place will affect business.
A £160,000 project will feature the replacement of York Stone paving slabs, while permanent bollards will be installed around the perimeter to stop motorists parking on the pavement and damaging the new materials.
The work will be carried out by Staffordshire County Council, as highways authority, in partnership with Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, as markets and conservation authority. Each council is providing half the funding.
Traders say that bollards are unnecessary if the paving slabs are laid down properly.
Former Leek Mayor Barry Cowie, who owns Chaplins menswear, just off the Market Place, said: “I believe if they lay the York Stone slabs down properly and bed them in they’ll be no need at all for the bollards.
“After all, if they are done right you can put 10 tonnes of lorry on them without breaking.
“I believe they’ll be completely unsightly and ruin the historic Market Place, which has looked the way it has for centuries.” However, council leader Sybil Ralphs said the bollards were needed to protect the slabs from future damage.
She said: “Sadly, recent years have seen a deterioration caused to some extent by motorists parking on the pavement and necessitating emergency repairs.
“The restoration scheme will not only enhance the appearance of Market Place but also minimise the likelihood of future damage.
“These are sensitive proposals that will respect the character of a Conservation Area and which were overwhelmingly supported in the consultation we carried out last summer.” Keith Montgomery, owner of Monty’s Fish and Chip Shop, in Market Place, said that he didn’t feel the bollards would be out of character.
He said: “Unlike other traders I actually feel the bollards will be very sympathetic with the overall feel of the Market Place.
After speaking to the engineers I feel very comfortable about the works.”
Work was originally scheduled to start last September but was postponed until the New Year after retailers and traders expressed concern that the scheme might harm trade in the run-up to Christmas.
The project will proceed in stages, starting at the southern end of Market Place, near Thornton’s, and then progressing anticlockwise around the perimeter to land adjacent to The Bird in Hand. The paved area around the Butter Cross will be the last to be tackled.