Resident calls for party for Chichester paving's 50th

The paving in North Street and East Street is patchy in places, with some of the bricks either uneven, loose or missing, leading to trips and falls over the years which have landed some people in hospital.

During a district council meeting, resident Simon Lloyd-Williams pointed out that the paving was almost 50 years old and wondered if the council planned to throw it a party or come up with an idea to fix it.

Paving and other highways matters are the responsibility of West Sussex County Council, as was pointed out by Jonathan Brown, cabinet member for environmental strategy.

He added: “This administration has highlighted the importance of this both internally and with the county council as a priority to be resolved.

“And this council is able and willing to help in whatever way we can.”

He told the meeting that leader Adrian Moss had raised the issue with county council leader Paul Marshall during their first meeting after the May elections.

He added: “We all recognise that the state of the pavements are a health and safety risk, with many falls being recorded, including those that have required hospitalisation.

“Improving the public realm in central Chichester is a major item of the Chichester Vision project and you’ll be aware that this was subject to a grant request for Levelling Up Funding which was, unfortunately, not successful.”

While the Levelling Up bid may have been a loss, the county council is expected to consider a business case for all-in-one improvements rather than piecemeal patchwork repairs.

Mr Brown said: “We’ve been urging them to go ahead.

“At the next cabinet meeting of the district council, we will be considering a proposal to contribute financially to the options consultation which will be required to get this moving finally.

“Without wishing to predetermine anything, I’m confident that the proposal will be listened to very sympathetically.

“I very much hope the county council will choose to proceed. I think we all feel this can has been kicked down the road quite often enough.”

A county council spokesman said: “We are aware of previous studies that have documented the degradation of high street surfaces on North Street and East Street, Chichester.

“We are exploring how public realm improvements could be made with partner organisations that will meet the future challenges of the high street to support economic growth and be in keeping with Chichester’s architectural heritage.”