'The beach' in Thatcham to be resurfaced

West Berkshire Council has admitted that it failed to set and will seeking financial compensation

A PATCH of land in Thatcham town centre, which has been nicknamed the beach after the sandy surface did not set, is to be replaced.

The area, at the triangle junction of Bath Road and High Street, was replaced during the

£300,000 town centre enhancement works last year, but the sand has still not set.

Thatcham Town Council raised concerns over its appearance with West Berkshire Council, and has received an email from the principal engineer, Stuart Clark, who said that an investigation would be launched into what went wrong.

On Monday, he also confirmed that the surface would be replaced with a resin-bonded surface, costing approximately £15,000.

The district council has confirmed that it would be seeking financial compensation for the additional work.

Spokesman Phil Spay said: “The surface has clearly not performed as expected.

"It is not draining properly and generally does not have a good appearance.

“We are in discussions with the architect who recommended this material, as well as the suppliers and installation contractors, about what may be causing this.

“We have agreed with the town council that, following these discussions, the surface will be replaced with a resin bonded one, similar to that used next to the Old Bluecoat School.”

At a town council meeting on Monday, the chairman of the town centre committee, Lee Dillon (Lib Dem, Thatcham North), said that the committee would support Mr Clark's plans to replace the surface, but that certain questions needed to be answered first.

He said: “The surface is not what we were shown [in the original enhancement work plans].

“It is sand down there.”

However, town councillor Stephanie Steevenson (Lib Dem, Thatcham Central) said that she was pleased with the district council's response.

She said: “West Berkshire totally agrees with us and I'm pleased to see that.”

However, Newbury Labour Party community organiser Richard Garvie said that he thought the issue should have been resolved by now.

He said: “It's just sludge at the moment.

“I am expecting the council to bring the contractor back down.

“It's another example of Thatcham being at the bottom of the pile.

“If it was Newbury, something would have been done straight away.”