Spennymoor residents complain of 'messy' Festival Walk

They reacted after the developer Hellens Group revealed the completion of the project to regenerate the site of the former Kwik Save supermarket in Spennymoor.

The work also included the construction of a public car park and new Aldi store, which opened last year, as well as the refurbishment of existing units.

Read more: Work completed on regeneration of Spennymoor's Festival Walk

But residents said it is "far from complete", saying the area remains an eyesore with fencing along a length of Festival Walk, where paving has been pulled up to be replaced. 

And an area of land next to Aldi has been described as a "pigeon palace". 

Resident Dave Butler said: "Festival Walk is nowhere near finished, no matter who has done what.

"All they have done is one length of Festival Walk with work on the shopfronts.

"Even there, there the paving is uneven with tarmac between crazy paving. It looks like a total mess.

“They have fenced off an area and are lifting the paving and relaying it.

"There is a great piece of land between Aldi and Greggs which is fenced off and does not appear to be anybody's land with metal fencing all round to stop people walking across it."

Michael Ellison, who runs Wolf Thai Fitness Gym said: "There is bit down the bottom of Festival Walk, where where the Aldi store is that still needs doing.

"It’s like a pigeon palace. It looks rotten. There are railings I have seen kids hanging off.

"Don’t get me wrong, it has improved enormously with Spennymoor town councillors Billy McAloon and Liz Maddison pushing Hellens Group to get the work done - but it is far from finished.

Another resident took to social media to say: “What a joke, shops had a quick makeover with parts of the shopping centre grassed over

"Other parts left redundant near Penny Gill, should have knocked it all down and started again. The paving outside of the shops must have been down for years. It's a mess."

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A spokesperson for Hellens Group said: “The main development phase of Festival Walk is now concluded and Hellens Group and Durham County Council are continuing to work together to finalise works to the public realm, with a date of future improvements to be confirmed shortly..

“We understand that ongoing works may cause some inconvenience, for which we apologise, but we hope local residents will understand and appreciate the vast improvements the scheme has delivered.”

Graham Wood, Durham County Council’s economic development manager, said: “We can confirm that Hellens Group has successfully completed the first phase of works at Festival Walk.

"We are now working with the group to finalise a scheme of public realm works as part of our continued commitment to regenerate the town, increase footfall, and boost the local economy. Some preparatory works have been carried out as part of this, with an official date for future improvements to be announced soon.”