Westbourne Arcade roof is broken again following £200k refit (From Thisisdorset)
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Westbourne Arcade roof is broken again following £200k refit
5:00pm Tuesday 31st July 2012 in News By Stephen Bailey
UNHAPPY: Somer Ozdemir, owner of Ottomania at Westbourne shopping arcade
PART of an upmarket Bournemouth shopping arcade was closed off because the glass roof started slipping just after a £200,000 refit.
A small central area of Westbourne Arcade was closed for safety reasons with no through access.
However Bournemouth council has now carried out temporary repair works to the roof so the arcade remains open for business.
Tony Williams, Chief Executive, said: “I would like to thank the co-operation of traders for clearing the arcade to enable officers and equipment to the roof. “I am pleased to report that our teams were able to carry out the temporary works outside of the trading hours and the arcade was fully open in time for business the following morning.
“Maintaining public safety is of paramount importance and we will continue to work closely with traders whilst they find a permanent solution to ensure the arcade can remain open for business.” Originally the traders had clubbed together to pay for the work on the listed structure.
But around eight panels in the central area slipped, partially exposing the sky, and the council was informed to inspect the roof condition.
One trader said: “The roof has been a debacle. Every shop had to pay £12,000 and it was at least £200,000 between us.
“The council had said ‘unless you get the work done we will investigate for health and safety’.
“The glass is slipping already after we had nearly a year of scaffolding in here.”
Somer Ozdemir, 48, from Ottomania, said: “The council is not being fair at all.
“We had to pay £12,000 each because of them. The council didn’t pay anything.”
Peter Trickett, principal building control officer for Bournemouth Council, said: “The council has never issued a formal notice.
“As a private property, the residents and traders are responsible for the cost and organisation of any repairs needed.
“The type of glass and replication of the structure was specified by the council because it is a listed structure.”
Comments(10)
Bournefre
says...
5:51pm Tue 31 Jul 12
Controversial But True
says...
6:24pm Tue 31 Jul 12
Upmarket?
Up their own arses more like!!
raynad
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6:59pm Tue 31 Jul 12
Richard 1976
says...
9:52pm Tue 31 Jul 12
muscliffman
says...
10:08pm Tue 31 Jul 12
Arcade Service Repairs Ltd are expected in Westbourne anytime now apparently and have already been paid by the Borough for the work.
When asked exactly when they might arrive, by the Town Hall, nobody at the New Zealand based firm - known by it's initials as ASR - was available for comment.
BIGTONE
says...
10:09pm Tue 31 Jul 12
Baywolf
says...
7:19am Wed 1 Aug 12
BarrHumbug
says...
9:31am Wed 1 Aug 12
muscliffman wrote::-D :-D :-D
The Council have found just the right contractor to fix this.
Arcade Service Repairs Ltd are expected in Westbourne anytime now apparently and have already been paid by the Borough for the work.
When asked exactly when they might arrive, by the Town Hall, nobody at the New Zealand based firm - known by it's initials as ASR - was available for comment.
It looks like justice has been done and the "Reef Committee" have been removed from their posts over the surf reef debacle but have moved on to become "Listed Buildings Over-site Committee"?
rockstar03
says...
11:12am Wed 1 Aug 12
BmthNewshound says...
5:26pm Tue 31 Jul 12
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Somer Ozdemir, 48, from Ottomania, said: “The council is not being fair at all. We had to pay £12,000 each because of them. The council didn’t pay anything.”
.
I'm delighted to hear that the council hasn't paid anything towards last years repairs. The Arcade is privately owned and it is down to the property owners or leasholders to pay for repairs.