Dear Sir,
I have recently returned from a week’s holiday in Spain.
On the Monday of our holiday at 8am a team of workers turned up in a street nearby, about half the size of Newton Aycliffe town centre. They worked 8am to Noon then returned at 4pm and worked till 8pm. There were about 20 men and by Monday night the whole of the street had been cleared of street lights, palm trees, road surface  and paving.
On Tuesday they dug up the sub surface and piled it at one end of the street. On Wednesday drains, electric cables, telephone cables and water supply pipes were all replaced.
On Thursday the sub soil was replaced and new street lights and young palm trees were laid, and on  Friday the whole street had new paving, turning it into a pedestrian precinct. It looks beautiful!
One week only and completed by 20 men. This is in Spain, which is supposed to be really suffering in this economic climate. I did not see one man in a suit or with a clipboard – they just got on with it.
I returned to Newton Aycliffe town centre to find little change in the week, I saw one man digging a hole and 2 men watching. Why has it taken months of disruption to do what the Spanish workers could have done in 2 weeks?
John King