A FURIOUS president of Haslemere's chamber of trade and commerce has branded the £150,000 Wey Hill improvement scheme an "utter fiasco".
Almost two months after the project to revitalise the area was expected to have been completed, traders, shoppers, and local residents are still waiting to see the improvements that were promised by Surrey County Council.
In a frank and exclusive interview with The Herald this week, president of the chamber of trade and commerce, Melanie Odell blasted county council officers, claiming the project has "descended into a joke".
Mrs Odell said that no end was in sight for the improvement scheme, with officers from the county council refusing to set a completion date.
"I've asked for even a vague date to be given for completion and I've just been met with silence. One officer refused to confirm whether the scheme will be finished in two years' time!" said Mrs Odell.
Mrs Odell has been working closely with Haslemere's county councillor Christine Stevens and town councillors on the scheme and said her frustration has been with the county officers alone.
"Christine Stevens has been incredibly supportive. I'm just frustrated with the officers who seem to be sitting behind their desks and getting away with not finishing the job. We wouldn't be able to work like that in business," Mrs Odell added.
Meanwhile, Mrs Stevens told The Herald that she thinks a lot can be learned from the Wey Hill scheme.
A diplomatic Mrs Stevens said: "I think we have to view this project as positively as possible. Sometimes things do not work out the way they were planned to for various reasons.
"I will be discussing different issues about the council's local transportation plan with the town council to brief them about the circumstances."
Among complaints from Mrs Odell about the scheme were that a date has still not been set for the resurfacing of the pavements, work to plant trees on the hill has been put on hold, and some of the painting work that has already been completed is below standard.
"We had a consultation with the public and lots of issues were raised that do not seem to have been considered at all.
"Trees were meant to have been planted by now, but there's been a big delay while the council had to get permission for planting from the utilities companies.
"Surely, the council must have known that permission was required before it agreed to plant the trees," Mrs Odell said.
The council officers were recently informed by a gas company that they couldn't plant any trees within a four-and-a-half-metre radius of a gas pipe. According to Mrs Odell, plans have now been changed so that large planters can be installed at points on Wey Hill for the trees to be planted.
Mrs Odell said: "If this is a new rule, we may end up seeing all of the Lion Green trees felled! The officers should have been aware of this rule and not raised people's hopes and expectations."
And Mrs Odell claimed that council contractors hadn't done a very good job of painting the lamp posts.
"When the sign informing people of the roadworks was taken off the lamp post, you could see there were big grey patches. The contractors hadn't even checked under the sign and painted that area," Mrs Odell said.
Banner posts that were expected to be installed on Wey Hill to advertise events in the town such as the Charter Fair and Christmas market had been funded by the town council and are still expected to arrive.
But signs have still not been erected by the county council to replace the chamber of trade signs which advertised free parking and which had been taken down during the road resurfacing work.
A fair planned to be held by the chamber of trade and commerce in May had already been postponed until August.
And now with no end in sight to the project, the fair has been called off altogether.
Mrs Odell said that the shopkeepers and business owners on Wey Hill certainly don't feel they have anything to celebrate.
Meanwhile, Haslemere's new mayor, Michael Foster, told The Herald that he thought a change in the county council's contractors was to blame for the delay.
Under the county council's calendar, new contractors had to be appointed halfway through the road resurfacing part of the scheme when the new financial year began in April.
"I would have liked to have seen the project seen through by one contractor rather than having a change in the middle of the job. As a town council we will be working with the county to make sure the project is completed as soon as possible," he said.
And a kerb build-out which was recently added at the top of the hill has also come in for harsh criticism from Haslemere town councillors and Mrs Odell. Fears were expressed last month at a town council planning and highways committee meeting that emergency vehicles may now have problems passing down the road.
Michael Biddiscombe claimed he had seen problems arise when an ambulance, fire engine, and police car were all blocked on the road because of the build out combined with oncoming traffic. A county council spokesman, however, said the build-out was to prevent cars parking on the dangerous corner.
• Mrs Stevens will be at the next meeting of Haslemere Town Council's planning and highways committee at the town hall on Thursday, June 12. Members of the public are welcome to attend for a special talk, which will begin at 7 pm.