Councillor: Barnoldswick pavements should not be 'ripped up'

Councillor David Whipp stepped in when town centre traders warned him about contractors for Virgin Media turning up with a digger to "rip up" the pavements.

Councillor David Whipp protested against work to take up the pavements in Barnoldswick town centre (Image: UGC)

Virgin Media contractors were set to install fibre optic ducting in the area.

"Over £400,000 has recently been spent renewing pavements with high quality stone flags," said Cllr Whipp.

"The 3" (75mm) flags have been laid to a higher standard on a specialist bed of mortar to prevent them becoming loose in future.

“It'd be criminal to rip them up and reinstate the pavements to a lower standard.

One pavement flag had been lifted before Councillor David Whipp stepped in to protest (Image: UGC)

"When I arrived, the contractors had already lifted one flag and I literally stepped onto the adjacent flags to prevent any more being lifted.

“This led to LCC and Pendle Council staff getting involved and eventually the contractors pulling off site for the time being.

"Apparently the highway authority, Lancashire County Council, hasn't designated the new town centre pavements as high amenity or protected them with a legal notice that prevents routine digging up for a number of years.

"I'm asking for the county council to ban work on the new pavements and negotiate acceptable alternatives for Virgin Media's installations, such as using back streets or carriageways. Hopefully, this can be done speedily.

"The next phase of pavement renewal work is due to start in January.

“To prevent needless disruption, Virgin Media is welcome to put new ducts in when this work is carried out."

Lancashire County Council has said that improvement works to the pavements in Barnoldswick town centre were carried out in 2021.

However, they noted that the “restriction period for protecting the highway can only be in place for two years” and that restriction has now “expired.

A Lancashire County Council spokesman said: "Public realm improvements were made to pavements in Barnoldswick in 2021.

“However, any restriction period for protecting the highway can only be in place for two years and would have expired.

"We will be monitoring Virgin Media to ensure that the footways and carriageways are reinstated to the same standards as the public realm improvements."