Historic street upgrade delayed

A major refurbishment project on an historic street in southern Scotland has been brought to a halt.

The Friars Vennel scheme in Dumfries - with a total cost of nearly £1m - involves the replacement of cobbles with new granite paving.

Its second phase had been earmarked for completion next month - but the council has ordered all work to be suspended until after Christmas.

The decision was taken amid uncertainty about supplies of some of the granite.

The contractor - who will bear the costs of the delay - has been told to patch up the roadway for the festive period.

"I think it is time the council started to look at the whole way they carry out capital projects"

Town Centre Regeneration Officer, Jon Mengham, said it was an unfortunate situation.

"The plan was always for a section of the Vennel to be dug up before the granite arrived," he said.

"This forward planning would assist in having the work finished before the end of November."

However, he said that the delay in material supplies would have taken the work too close to Christmas.

He added: "A decision has been taken to stop the contractor working now and to have the work completed after Christmas and the New Year."

Labour councillor Colin Smyth criticised the handling of the situation.

"The council should have sought more assurances from the contractor that the granite would be delivered on time before they let them dig up the street and leave such it in such a mess," he said.

"I think it is time the council started to look at the whole way they carry out capital projects.

"If you ask any trader in the Vennel they could have predicted this would happen and I think that says a lot about the council's track record of delay after delay when it comes to projects like this."

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