By Lesley Walsh
WORK has begun to restore Bangor’s expensive city centre public realm paving stones that have been ripped up by utility firms and replaced with ugly black tarmac.Criticism has been levelled however, over the time it has taken companies to replace the attractive paving in various parts of Bangor – as well as Holywood and Newtownards – which the Department for Communities contributed almost £8m to develop. The paving, installed in 2013 as part of environment improvement schemes, has been pockmarked by a growing patchwork of tarmac in recent months. However, in some parts of Bangor, paving stones that fall outside the public realm scheme, like that at Bangor Marina, lie outside the enforcement powers of the Department for Infrastructure (DfI), leaving uncertainty over who is responsible for restoring them. Some residents said Bangor had been left like a ’giant jigsaw with missing pieces’ in a state that would deter economic investment. The delays in returning footpaths back to the public realm paving prompted calls from Mayor Alistair Cathcart for the DfI to ‘enforce this better’. The council has also complained to the DfI on ’several occasions.But in welcome news this week, Mr Cathcart said he had been delighted to hear it confirmed that NIE was moving in to restore the stones on pavements it had worked on.However, he said the tarmac has been in since September and it shouldn’t have taken so long to repair.“They state that there was a supply issue but the DfI really need to enforce this better and ensure that like for like replacements are put in much quicker.”That’s the concern of one North Down resident who said the pavers were also being ripped up in Newtownards at one point, while they were ‘still being laid round the corner’. Retired journalist and broadcaster, Don, said it was sad that stones brought in from far away were being smashed up and ‘no doubt going to landfill’.Mr Anderson said some areas remain unrestored, leaving him to wonder who will repair these sections.“The general point is that I remember returning from England in 1975 and the headline in the Spectator was ‘new plan for Queen’s Parade’. “The point I’m making is that Bangor is beginning to look a bit sad and it’s full of vacant businesses and our Queen’s Parade still has a large hole in it. “Having these patches on the pavement only adds to the general feeling that Bangor is neglected,” he said. A council spokesman confirmed it was up to the DfI and the utility provider to put the paths back to their former glory. “The Council has contacted DfI on several occasions, most recently on January 21, and has been assured that they are working with utility contractors to ensure the pavements are restored as soon as possible.” A DfI spokesperson said that a utility company that installed a ‘temporary footway reinstatement on the Main Street at junction of Market Street in Bangor’, last October was ‘currently sourcing like for like material to permanently repair’ the section of paving.“It is common practice for utility companies to use temporary reinstatements to ensure surfaces remain safe and allows for settlement to occur that is then followed up with a permanent repair a number of months later. It further confirmed that it was ‘aware of a small section of the Harbour marina that has been reinstated with concrete’ but said it was outside its responsibility.
