Roundabout's £93k facelift slammed by fed-up locals

SWNS

A fed-up resident has slammed the £90k facelift of a roundabout near his home which he says has left looking it like  a 'desert island.'  Tony Bland, 52, has even posed on the revamped Albert Roundabout in Colchester, Essex, in a deckchair and next to a parasol to protest at its  'beach-like' new look.  The cost of the roundabout, which is covered with sand, was revealed through an FOI request by Colchester High Steward Sir Bob Russell as £93,334.  The project was carried out by the famous Beth Chatto Gardens, and funded by Essex County Council, Colchester Council, and rail operator Greater Anglia.  The aim was to improve the first impressions of visitors arriving by train with the topsoil replaced with sand to prevent weeds growing.

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00:00The reason I decided to protest on the roundabout is because I wanted to draw attention to the

00:18spending of this money basically on a desert island.

00:22They've put sand on this roundabout.

00:24People are unhappy about it.

00:26People are frustrated that other things they want aren't being done and yet money's being

00:30spent on this.

00:32Council's contributing funds and resources to it.

00:35We understand from inquiries and FOI requests, I believe, that the total funds invested in

00:40this project was £93,000.

00:44They could have made decisions a long time ago which would have been much more sensible

00:48for Colchester with that money.

00:50I think the council should be making much more sensible and joined up decisions about

00:55how to invest our money, our funds and those that they can get from partners in projects

01:02for the city.

01:03I think the council ought to be reserving funds for doing things like saving our weir

01:09which fell into the river exactly one year ago, like restoring the footbridge which Essex

01:14County Council is responsible for and making that key artery open again for people who

01:20use it.

01:21They use it to walk their kids to school.

01:23They use it to walk their mum and dad around when they're getting elderly a bit.

01:28Disabled people and cyclists need that route as well but at the moment they have to make

01:33a 10-15 minute diversion and it's very difficult for many people.

01:38I think the council could invest that money differently.

01:42I think they could be more creative with their funds.

01:46They could also keep the toilets open in Lower Castle Park.

01:50Those have been closed now for a couple of months but on Friday we find that the local

01:56events team for the Christmas set-up has been using the disabled toilet there when the public

02:03are prohibited from doing so and yet they've spent money on a cat litter tray here.

02:08Will you be going on to the roundabout again at some point, a bit of sunbathing maybe if

02:14the weather's better?

02:15If I see the sun come out, yeah, quite possibly.

02:21As long as it's a sunny day and I want to draw attention to various issues around the

02:26town, I was thinking about putting some shorts on and building some sandcastles at some stage.

02:33I'll have to bring my own sand of course.

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