BOLTON Council chiefs are being asked to think again before spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on stone work for refurbishments to Victoria Square. Tory Cllr John Walsh said the council could be wasting money by laying artificial granite setts on the square while there is the same sort of stonework already under the existing flagstones. He said the new stonework would account for a large part of the £1 million revamp of the precinct and said the Council could be too hasty if it went ahead with the work without first exploring the possibility of using the original granite.

Cllr Walsh said: "If we want something authentic, surely we can do no better than the original stonework which has been there for about 100 years and all they have to do is to lift up the existing flagstones.

"If the argument against it is that it will lower the square, so what? If needed, surely it is possible to put in some ramps rather than paying a lot of money for artificial granite."

And it has now been agreed that council engineers will lift some of the flags to test the quality of the stones on the square.

Cllr Walsh said he was worried about how fast the refurbishments were proceeding and is concerned that money could be wasted.

He said: "We are told that we have to act quickly and spend the money available to us or we might lose it. But we should not be spending money hastily in that way and our priority should be getting value for money even if it means delays.

"In haste to get things done, they are not really thinking of the consequences and that is a real worry."

Council leader Cllr Bob Howarth said he was also concerned about value for money but pointed out that town centre traders are anxious for the work to be completed before the pre-Christmas shopping period.

He said: "There is no guarantee that what Cllr Walsh is proposing won't cost more money. We simply don't know what is underneath the flags. I believe there are some areas where there are granite setts but we don't where.

"If there is any value in the proposals raised by Cllr Walsh I would expect the committee to consider them providing it does not delay the project or increase costs."

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