Co-operation and accountability need improving

Wednesday 28 February 2024

A businesswoman who was left with no choice but to close her studio and shop as a result of chaotic roadworks has said she's happy the street has reopened, but she wants to ensure the difficulties experienced are acknowledged so they won't be repeated.

As reported last week, Iris and Dora was forced to close because the owner, her staff, and customers were unable to safely access the premises on multiple occasions while work was happening in the Ruette Braye.

The road reopened yesterday lunchtime, one and a half weeks ahead of schedule.

This will ease traffic congestions for people from the southern parishes heading to town, and vice versa, while also ensuring Denise McGahy's business - Iris and Dora - can resume its normal opening hours.

"I can confirm that we will be re-opening and we are over the moon that the roadworks have been completed ahead of schedule," said Ms McGahy last night. 

"However, I must express my disappointment with the challenges we faced during the road resurfacing."

She said those challenges had been severe and she wants to help other individuals and businesses avoid suffering the same stress and intimidation that she, her staff, and customers experienced. 

"The stress and financial strain caused were entirely avoidable with better communication and consideration from the contractors and the traffic department. It's disheartening to see their disregard for those affected, knowing they'll soon move on to another area, leaving behind the consequences. We had to resort to reaching out to mainstream and social media to highlight these issues, there's a clear lack of accountability here. The blame game we encountered was unacceptable, businesses deserve better treatment, and it's crucial for the traffic department to be held responsible for their actions or inaction.

"Looking ahead, I hope for improved cooperation and accountability to prevent such hardships in the future and even though our road is reopening, I'll continue to push for this to be acknowledged so that other businesses don’t have to struggle the way we have."

Pictured: Denyse McGahy was left in tears after feeling intimidated as she tried to access her business during road works. 

Ms McGahy said she had been told that she would be able to access her premises throughout the planned month-long roadworks, but there would be a couple of days where access would be blocked as the scheduled resurfacing work was done directly outside the entrance to her business.

Despite that assurance from Traffic and Highway Services, Ms McGahy said access was blocked multiple times a day, as different contractors took the opportunity to work in the closed road with a lack of co-ordination over who was doing what, where, and when.

A week ago, Ms McGahy told Express that she had felt intimidated by the workmen carrying out different duties in the roads and this had left her very upset.

Her staff and customers had also reported being intimidated when asking for access to the Iris and Dora studios or they had been blocked from accessing it entirely. 

Ms McGahy said it felt like no one was co-ordinating the road works as whoever she spoke to, at either THS or the individual contractors, told her to speak to someone else.

"In the first week, half term, (a contractor) came along and blocked and dug up our driveway without asking us, and access was blocked from the bottom of the road and the top of the road.

"When you try and speak to them, they say 'oh, it's not us, you don't need to speak to us, it's (a contractor) or it's Traffic and Highways Services or it's someone else'."