Flume work wasn’t properly monitored

Having spent 50 years in construction, I am surprised that heads have not rolled over the shoddy workmanship that is The Flume (Report Suggests Doom and Gloom for The Flume, KE September 4).

Surely someone in the Kent County Council or Ashford Borough Council planning and/or project management teams should have known that the substandard Chinese granite should not be laid onto a non-setting sub-strata. It should have been laid on to a wet mortar or slurry.

That aside, there are still large areas that have not been pointed (just outside of the doors to Debenhams and on to Elwick Square for example). This will allow water to permeate under the slabs and wash away any bedding present.

Was there not an old-fashioned Clerk of the Works to monitor that this project was being carried out correctly? Terry Abbott Christchurch Road, Ashford

With reference to your article last week on The Flume, I had often wondered what it was all about, so I’m glad it’s now been explained, or has it? Is there anyone out there who can decipher Flume creator Simeon Nelson’s explanation of the design. Maybe he did not fully understand the brief!

A complaint was lodged by myself some time ago about the dangers of these ‘crazy pavings’, particularly for those with mobility problems. I never received a reply though.

So, goodbye Flume. Ann Town South Willesborough