Resurfacing 'extremely dangerous' Chichester pavements 'a top priority'

At a full Chichester City Council meeting last Wednesday (December 8), chairman and mayor, John Hughes, said the pavements in the city centre were in an 'extremely dangerous' condition.

He said Chichester District Council had agreed the repairing and resurfacing the paths was now a 'top priority' within their schemes but the difficulty was getting an affordable surface.

West Sussex County Council had produced several schemes which were said to be unaffordable.

The properties manager of the city council has been tasked with investigating the possibility of resurfacing the city's pavements with recycled plastic due to it producing a 'very durable' surface.

As the meeting went on Cllr Clare Apel said, because of the state of the pavements, she witnessed a lady in a wheelchair get knocked over by an assistance dog.

Cllr Anne Scicluna added that she had a similar experience with her husband who is wheelchair-bound.

She also commented on the number of bricks which were missing from the pavement which had been tarmacked over by West Sussex County Council.

A petition has also been set up calling on the three tiers of council to come together and solve the problem once and for all.

The petition has been set up by resident Sue Trenchard who said she was left bruised and bloody after a fall in The Hornet earlier this year.

She said she is ‘dreading’ another fall and called for the support of fellow city residents.