Latest news with #Ann-MarieBarker
BBC News
30-03-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
Town centre road 'likely' shut until late April, says council
The reopening of a town centre road in Surrey could be delayed further, a council has said. Ann-Marie Barker, leader of Woking Borough Council, said Victoria Way would "likely" remain closed until late April. The A road has seen roadworks and closures since 2021, due to cladding panels repeatedly falling from the Hilton Barker said the schedule had been "severely impacted" by a delay of equipment from Germany that had been due to be delivered last week. She said: "I understand how frustrating this news is for everyone but the exclusion zone is in place to protect your safety and will be lifted as soon as the works are complete."The council leader said the developer, SRM, was "making steady progress". She added that she would continue to push SRM to accelerate the work and keep members of the public informed. Road closures are killing business, say traders In March, Ms Barker announced the reopening of the road would be delayed until Easter. SRM has been approached for comment. The company has previously apologised for the inconvenience and said it empathised with residents and businesses over their frustration.
BBC News
08-03-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
Woking road reopening faces delays until Easter, says council
The reopening of a Woking town centre road may be delayed until Easter, the council leader has Way has faced roadworks and closures since 2021 due to loose cladding panels repeatedly falling from the Woking Hilton Borough Council (WBC) had said they hoped to see the route reopen by the end of March but they believe there will be a two-week delay until all panels have been screwed down. Councillor Ann-Marie Barker said: "I'm sorry to say this could be delayed a few weeks to Easter." Ms Barker said she was pushing the developer Sir Robert McAlpine (SRM) to reopen the road as soon as it is safe to do so. She added SRM's site manager updated WBC's environment and place scrutiny committee last week and have said further works in the road will last until the summer. Ms Barker said: "I am incredibly frustrated at the continued road closure and continue to press SRM to work as quickly as possible to reopen Victoria Way and to ensure this never happens again."The BBC has contacted SRM for comment.
BBC News
04-03-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Cash-strapped Woking Borough Council ‘moving the right way
A cash-strapped council in Surrey "moving the right way," its leader has Borough Council (WBC), which declared itself effectively bankrupt in June 2023, approved a 2.99% increase to its share of the council tax bill in the county at a meeting on budget for 2025-2026 was passed after ministers agreed to financial support of £ year, residents saw a 10% increase in council tax, as well as cuts to services because of borrowing and investment decisions which led to debts of more than £2bn. A band D household will be charged £298.11, alongside the amounts paid to Surrey County Council and the Democrat leader Ann-Marie Barker told BBC Radio Surrey: "We've done all we can as a council to put our house in order."We've balanced the budget. We've made some more savings, and the council as a whole is moving the right way."She added that the government Exceptional Financial Support included £74.6m to cover the costs of paying the interest on the council's historic borrowing."We are actually adding to our debt with that," she added. "But that's the only deal on the table, it's the way we need to go."It's our second year of doing that. We can't keep doing it forever, so we are still looking for government to work with us and come up with a longer term solution."We realise that is clearly a challenge."She added: "The remaining amount of money is not making us make payments, called Minimum Revenue Provisions (MRP), that should have been put aside to repay the borrowing."
BBC News
28-01-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
Woking: Loose cladding could shut town centre road for weeks
A town centre road could be shut for weeks after strong winds dislodged cladding on one of its buildings for the third time in as many months. Leader of Woking Borough Council Ann-Marie Barker called the latest closure "extremely disruptive and frustrating" after loose panelling was spotted on the side of the Hilton Hotel on Victoria said she was "very angry" as, earlier in January, the design and build contractor Sir Robert McAlpine (SRM) had said that the panels "were now safe and secure".A spokesperson for SRM said the latest problem had been caused by two recent storms and repair work would take place as soon as possible. "I'm very angry that another panel has failed on the hotel building despite assurances from SRM earlier this month that the panels were now safe and secure," said the emergency services for their swift attendance, she urged SRM "to progress (with putting things) right as quickly as possible". Barker added she was "pushing for a permanent resolution so we are not in this situation every time there is an extreme weather event".Victoria Way previously had to be shut in both directions in November and December, following Storm Bert and Storm Darragh also had to closed due to cladding issues in October 2021, which led to months of disruption. A spokesperson for SRM apologised, saying that "the aftermath of Storm Herminia on Sunday and Friday's powerful Storm Eowyn" had loosened one cladding panel on the western elevation of the hotel said that "in order to ensure the safety of drivers and pedestrians", Victoria Way will remain closed, possibly for " a number of weeks", until repairs and further checks are completed. "This will be carried out as soon as the wind speeds are within the safe working limits," the spokesperson added.
