Letter to Editor: When will repaving of town centre ever be finished?
Politics / Sat 31st May 2025 at 09:44am
Dear Sir
IN a rare visit to Harlow Town Centre it was my privilege to see the remarkable progress that has been made in the last year in the extremely necessary repaving of the area.
It was breath taking to see not only had Harlow Council contractors, in this million pound scheme, passed Harlow library but they had passed Boots as well.
It was so gratifying to see that in one year they had reached the top of Broadwalk. Managers are to be congratulated on their skills. With seven men there, one laying a paving slab at break neck speed, four watching him and two making sure they were involved by throwing handfuls of sand at one another.
If this miraculous rate of progress is maintain I am sure they will reach the half way point at the Obelisk by 2030.
Hats off to those people of Harlow Council involved in this scheme.
Yours sincerely
Michael Danvers
Tunnmeade
Harlow
Nicholas Taylor
2025-05-31 10:12:36
At a cost of almost £7 million. Gives an idea of how long it will take (whenever it gets started) and how much it will cost to create a new road and pave the area in front of the Playhouse and beyond. Millions being spent which will do nothing to improve footfall in the Town Centre. I never thought the Governments plan to "level up" towns included renewing paving!
AB
2025-05-31 11:08:11
Spot on Mike. The glacial pace of current work in the town centre fills one with dread at the prospect of more work starting before current projects are completed. The proposed purchase of Terminus House is much lauded; whilst the silence from Harlow Council is deafening regarding the alleged failure of the company that was working on the bus station, and current cessation of that project.
David Forman
2025-05-31 11:14:24
Absolutely accurate description from Mike Danvers. It's nice to see Labour's elder statesman Danvers teaching current Labour councillor Tony Durcan how to oppose the Conservative administration in a constructive manner.
Jim
2025-05-31 12:44:43
It is staggering how long this is taking and Harlow Council want to attract more retailers to open up in the Town Centre. It must be a right result to be working on this knowing got years before need to worry about being asked to get something done in a reasonable timescale.
Colleen Morrison
2025-05-31 12:46:49
During over 50 years since Harlow council was established in c 1973, Harlow has had the following councils: 1973 to 2002 29 years of Labour councils, 2002 to 2008, 5 years of no overall control / coalition councils 2008-2012 4 years of Conservative council, 2013 to 2021: 9 years of Labour councils 2021 to 2025: 4 years of Conservative councils. That's in total, c 38 years of Labour councils, c 8 years of Conservative councils and c 5 years of no overall control / coalition councils. As you will know, since you were, in my opinion, the best Labour councillor Harlow has ever had, from 1972 to 2022 - with a few years break - Harlow town centre has been in a dreadful, run down state for around the last 20 years. Given that Harlow's current Conservative council, during its 4 years in office to date, has begun regenerating Harlow's town centre and other parts of Harlow, why, during Labour's 39 years of control of our council, did it never regenerate our badly run down town centre and why did it allow so many of Harlow's neighbourhoods to become so dreadfully run down?
Colleen Morrison
2025-05-31 13:04:23
I've worked at Bush Fair shopping, industrial and commercial centre for over 40 years. I spent years begging Harlow's Labour councils to repair broken windows in the communal areas of the flats, asking for huge piles of fly tipped rubbish to be removed from BF streets and for these streets, which had not been cleaned for decades and were filthy, to be cleaned. Yet nothing was done to improve Bush Fair for years. The current Conservative council has dramatically improved Bush Fair and has made it look like a decent place again. It's not just Bush Fair, neighbourhoods all over Harlow were badly neglected by decades of Labour councils. 39 years of Labour councils bequeathed our Conservative council a gargantuan regeneration and clean up task and our Conservative council are working very hard to do what Labour failed to do: to regenerate and restore Harlow.
Gary Roberts
2025-05-31 15:55:41
Why did you decide to give it all away Mr Danvers? You have more experience of the system and respect for the electorate than most of the current crop of councillors. Your simple and clever approach to getting a message across is brilliant and has been for the many years I have known you. Keep it up!
Resident
2025-05-31 20:19:05
that was funny, and depressing. I can't believe Dan Swords keeps banging on about all the plans to regenerate the town and yet they can't even keep control over a simple job like this. The new paving doesn't look any better than what was there before and yippee to more areas of planting, which will be neglected and allowed to run to weeds like all the others have so far. is anyone actually accountable for how this money is spent, and whether contractual obligations are met. was it actually in the contract that the work could take as long as they like, the end result poor and clearly such poor quality staff that it takes at least 4 supervisors for one person
Panny
2025-05-31 20:21:55
FYI Forth Bridge only requires repainting about every 20 years .Paint has improved immensely unlike laying paving in Broad Walk
Realist
2025-05-31 21:04:40
What’s that old saying. If a jobs worth doing, it’s worth doing well. A good job will last for years, a bad job will need redoing a lot sooner. Eighteen months, is the time frame for this work, for the paving, providing there’s no underlying problems. Rome was not built in a day, so how can you expect Harlow to be. You can satisfy most of the people, most of the time, but you can’t satisfy all the people all of the time.
William Warner
2025-05-31 21:07:11
Harlow don't know what they are doing Harlow town centre shop are closed down Sunday bus runs every 2 hours on Sunday no bus after 6.30 on Sunday Harlow when to pay out taxi on Sunday it all rubbish to people in Harlow
Unfortunate outsi
2025-05-31 22:51:03
In the short time I've lived and worked in harlow ( 4 yrs ) I've seen the town centre disintegrate very fast. I've heard the stories how great harlow used to be with the market in town square etc.. but my experience of harlow is a degenerate place
Colleen Morrison
2025-05-31 23:14:17
Resident, green spaces and other forms of heat mitigation are essential in Harlow's built up neighbourhoods, to mitigate the Urban Heat Island effect, whereby buildings and roads absorb and retain heat and become significantly hotter than surrounding areas with shade or green space. Urban Heat Islands can be 8 to 10 degrees hotter than surrounding areas.
Resident
2025-06-01 08:24:26
Colleen Morrison I completely agree but history has shown, without fail, that the council never ever look after any of the planted areas they put in the town centre and it just turns into sorry looking weeds. Every single planted area has failed and ended up looking a sad sorry mess
Brenda Joyce Elliott
2025-06-01 09:10:21
Said a year three months over now AI Overview Conamar Building Services is a family-owned construction firm, with the company being founded in 1982 by Con Dower. The business is now managed by his sons, Neil Dower and Paul Dower. The company's largest shareholders are C.J. Dower and M. Dower.
Brenda Joyce Elliott
2025-06-01 09:13:27
So much for a year.....lol hope there was a time set on contract...are a new little walk AI Overview Conamar Building Services is a family-owned construction firm, with the company being founded in 1982 by Con Dower. The business is now managed by his sons, Neil Dower and Paul Dower. The company's largest shareholders are C.J. Dower and M. Dower.
Seamus
2025-06-02 13:21:25
Being Honest, we recieved a far better level of service when the council had satellite offices in places like the stow, bush fair, staple tye etc than we do now.
Iain
2025-06-03 12:02:44
And so say all of I Mike. I came to Harlow in 1966. The Market Square is a building site. Shameful, and of course Swords being a Con, it's all promises, like the new hospital I despair when I have to walk past it to get to Town Centre. Iain.
Nicholas Taylor
2025-06-08 09:43:03
Took a look yesterday, the "flower" beds along the front of Market Square have more weeds in them than flowers. I have made numerous comments about this on yourharlow, despite this the council has not arranged for any long term plan to manage these areas. Gives me little confidence that all the new shrub beds will be looked after once they have been constructed.
Rose
2025-06-12 00:10:52
That’s all they seem to do in our town centre in dig the paths up ….wen will it end spending money on the town centre paths …. Do something about the paths around the town there’s a lot that need replacing….
Adrienne
2025-07-17 15:02:40
I would like to raise an important issue that has came to my attention today as I watched a commons discussion by the commons today. It seems to me that the disposal of plastic products. When I was younger we had glass bottles for milk and fizzy pop etc. It seems to me if supermarkets demanded glass again as vessels it would alleviate some of the plastic products . Perhaps we could go back to this process. I know we could not stop plastic in all areas . Especially,with microwaveable vessels. But I do feel that we could use pyrex covered containers which would alleviate the need for cling film. When I was younger you could get a deposit back for pop bottles and indeed milk bottles. Would it be very difficult to do a 360 on this process and go back a bit in time to using an alternative to this. We could make them locally and subside the initial mass making of glass again therefore removing plastic waste completely. Foil is recyclable so there is no reason to axe these products..they can be recycled by the smelting process. Thereby,reducing plastic products completely. What are the thoughts of the supermarkets and of course the members of the public. I know for the members of the public there compliance and support would make this decision easier. Buy glass and we should soon see a change.xx
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