THE County Council recently decided that the Ferwig Road needed resurfacing; so far so good. Presumably since it is considered to be a minor road it needed to be resurfaced the cheapest way.

It was decided to use the oldest and cheapest method - tar and chippings. The work was carried out over several days.

Unfortunately the chippings were not bedded in and so the majority lay loose on the surface. The result was that we the motorists were used as the means of settling-in the surface.

It meant of course that even at the lowest speeds the chippings flew up and clattered against the underside of our vehicles. The also stuck to the tyres to such an extent that they resembled snow rally tyres.

A sweeper lorry eventually turned up, presumably when the entire job was completed. But even then it wasn’t totally effective as loose gravel still lines the road edges, and there are tracks on either side of the road where we continue to flatten the surface, with loose gravel in between them.

This has been a shocking way to treat the motorists who use this road. The gravel should have been properly rolled in as the work was carried out and the sweeper lorry used far earlier - and it still needs to return to complete the job.

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ALL the heavy machinery on the site of the Integrated Care Centre is currently overshadowed by the enormous “corkscrew” - as it has often been nicknamed.

It is the largest auger I’ve ever seen which is drilling holes deep into the ground so that piles can be constructed supporting the Centre’s structure.

The piles are constructed by pouring concrete into the holes together with metal supports. My informant tells me that several hundred piles will be constructed; a figure of 400 was mentioned.

When Aldi’s was being constructed piles were used there too , but their method of putting them in place was to use a pile driver on already fabricated piles.

Obviously they were not as long as the Centre’s, but the noise and vibrations created were pretty horrendous. Indeed the houses nearest to the site had cracks appear in walls and ceilings.

I recall that when the site’s anti-brigade were in full cry it was stated that the ground was so unstable that nothing could be built there, not even a pig sty.

I commented that if tower blocks could be built on unstable clay in London, and oil wells could be constructed in the North Sea, then surely it was not beyond the ingenuity of man to come up with a solution on the Centre’s site. And so it has been.

The site work is now well in hand and I look forward to the time when construction of the building gets underway.

The engineers 1, the detractors 0. End of.

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A STATEMENT from Hywel Dda stated that the existing “hospital” building and the Health Centre will be sold when they become empty with the local community’s views (if any) being given sympathetic consideration.

I have brought this up twice, asking if any thought has been given as to how the sites could be utilised for the benefit of the community.

I would expect someone – like the Town Council – to organise a community debate with written suggestions being forwarded perhaps to the Tivyside so that all could see and consider ideas. An oral debate would not necessarily be as democratic.

Well, I’m delighted to see that one of your correspondents has taken up the challenge - not a committee or association, but an individual. Well done her!

The suggestion put forward is that the “hospital” site be used to construct homes for our increasingly elderly population - an excellent idea.

Rid the site of the mainly inelegant building and you have a fairly large area for construction of, I would suggest, a two-story building containing flats.

Whether such a scheme could be financed by a housing association or not I do not know, but it would be worth pursuing.

Then drive out the motorists who with no thought for users of the “hospital” park there free of charge. They could be re-located in the existing health centre site when the buildings are demolished; they would have to pay of course in this central site.

Anyone got other ideas?