Contractors paid to sit in van and lift city bollards

PRIVATE contractors are being paid to sit in vans next to Broadgate 24 hours a day - in case bollards need to be lifted to allow vehicles into the city centre square.

The council has revealed that “so far”, it has spent £2,500 to have the private staff sat waiting at the High Street entrance to the square, near Cosy Club and Natwest Bank.

However, this cost also covers emergency transportation, installation, and the cost of hiring and removing the existing bollards.

A Conservative councillor has told the Telegraph the security staff are forced to constantly run their engines to keep warm in their vehicles.

He also says a traffic warden tried to give the men a parking ticket.

It is understood the staff are working in 12-hour shifts because the rise and fall bollards suffered a power failure and are not currently operational.

Coventry City Council has confirmed that access is currently being controlled by a private firm who are parked at the High Street entrance to Broadgate, raising the bollards when access is needed.

It is the latest instalment in the saga of failing bollards installed to control access to the busy square and has been branded “not good enough” by Conservative Cllr Tim Mayer.

It follows problems at the Trinity Street entrance - between the Flying Standard pub and Primark - which saw a variety of vans and even a bus for disabled people being used as a security blockade after the automatic rising bollards were removed after apparently being damaged.

Bollards are in place on both the Trinity Street and High Street entrances to Broadgate, to prevent unauthorised vehicle access.

It is believed the bollards on the Trinity Street side were damaged during the RAF centenary celebrations, in early July.

A special three day event took place in the city centre on July 6-8, which saw a BAE Systems Hawk placed on static display on Broadgate.

As a result of this damage, the automatic rising bollards were removed, and the holes were filled in with Tarmac.

After problems with bollards at the Trinity Street entrance, both council vehicles and private hire vans were being parked where the bollards should stand, to restrict access.

In September, a Coventry City Council spokesperson revealed that they were replacing theses bollards in “the next couple of months”, but stressed that there was no specific timeline for the completion of these works.

More recently, the bollards on the High Street side have malfunctioned, resulting in the council hiring a private firm to control access.

At the Trinity Street entrance to Broadgate, a number of static bollards were installed in November ahead of the Christmas lights switch-on.

These are not a permanent solution, but came as a result of a manufacturers delay in installing the new rise and fall bollards.

Councillor Abdul Salam Khan, Coventry City Council’s Cabinet Member for Events, said: “The safety of shoppers and visitors to the city centre has always been our main priority which has led to the temporary

measures being in place.

“Finding a final solution to the issue has taken longer than we would have wanted for reasons outside of our control, which was the reason for the temporary measures.”

Since Broadgate was pedestrianised, vehicles are no longer able to drive anywhere near the Godiva statue, with just a few exceptions.

Delivery and loading vehicles, emergency services access, and more recently, construction vehicles at the new Cathedral Lanes restaurants are the only expections.

On Christmas Eve, there were claims that an ambulance responding to a 999 call got stuck behind the bollards but Coventry City Council say there was no record of any delay in getting to a patient.

Cllr Tim Mayer said: “The rising bollards at the High St end of Broadgate failed last week drawing out this saga yet again, my understanding is that an engineer will be out on Wednesday 9th January.

“But this is not good enough. These issues have been ongoing since July 2018.

“The bollards at the Trinity Street entrance of Broadgate were damaged in early July and, since then, Coventry City Council has used a van, a car, a children’s disability transport, and a car again all to block the access where just yards to the right of the gap, there was an equally as large gap which vehicles were using to get into Broadgate anyway.

“The gap was fixed and a solution found, but the new solution has now failed.

“We have now had vans are sat there with the engines running 24hr per day to keep warm.

“That is not what the city centre needs.

“On the 7th we saw that a traffic warden was going to ticket them. This highlights the continued confusion around the city services area.

“Wardens are obviously not being briefed. Parking wardens can be a local authority’s eyes and ears on the ground.

“If you don’t tell them what should be there, how are they supposed to know what shouldn’t?

“Public protection has to be an absolute priority but these issues have be running far to long and have seen a plethora of errors from the ruling administration.

“I understand officers are looking to install more robust rising bollards in Broadgate to increase the level of protection, but it has been 6 months now and we are still not where we need to be. I want to see these in as quickly as possible and want us to stop using tax payer’s money to pay for temporary bollards or council employees acting as bollards.”

On January 7, the Telegraph asked Coventry City Council five questions. They are:

Is it a private firm that has been brought in to provide security at the Broadgate entrance?

Is someone currently being employed to remain at this site, providing

access when needed?

If so, how much are they being paid to do so?

Why is this needed at this time?

How long do you anticipate this being the case? In response to our questions, a Coventry City Council spokesperson said: “The safety of shoppers and visitors in one of our most popular areas of the city centre is a an absolute priority which is why an external contractor is currently controlling access to Broadgate.

“This is a temporary measure while we wait for engineers to fix the existing bollards at the High Street entrance.

“When the temporary bollards were installed at the Trinity Street entrance, emergency services were made aware that access for them would be via High Street.

“We’ve spoken to the West Midlands Ambulance Service who do not have a record of any delay in treating a patient on Christmas Eve.”

The Telegraph contacted the council for further comment, and were told that the Bollard management was being carried out by an external contractor, who are posting a person at the site 24 hours a day.

The council spokesperson went on to say: “So far the cost for the emergency transportation, installation and hire and security is £2,500. This cost also covers removal once the existing bollards are fixed.”

The Telegraph approached two of the private contractors for comment. However, they declined to do so.

This is a temporary measure while we wait for engineers to fix the existing bollards at the High Street entrance. Spokesman