Droitwich MP Peter Luff will visit the site of the ongoing gas main works on Worcester Road, Droitwich this Friday (10th) to check on progress and to ensure the needs of local businesses are being properly catered for. His intervention comes after complaints from three retailers that their trade was being badly affected and that National Grid had not told them what was happening or how to get compensation.
Peter said, "I have already arranged for National Grid to talk to the businesses affected and I want to make sure that has happened.
"Essential works like these always cause some disruption and it is vital they are completed as rapidly as possible to minimise it. So I will also be looking for guarantees from the firm that the work is progressing properly with the right level of resource devoted to it.
"I will also be checking on the consultation arrangements before this work began. Recently in Fernhill Heath, also on the A38, we saw an abject failure to manage the consultation, the works or the compensation properly. My impression is the these new works in Droitwich have been handled better, but it's obvious that some mistakes have still been made. On Friday I will be trying to work our how serious those mistakes actually were.
"I will also do everything I can to ensure businesses that have lost money are fairly compensated, but I know from bitter experience that the rules are pretty tough and seem to be loaded against small low-margin businesses such as those on the Worcester Road that have been in touch with me. That's another reason why getting the work done quickly is so important."