Fears looming 34 week Cookham village roadworks 'will destroy High Street'

Cookham High Street faces ‘another nail in the coffin’, businesses say, ahead of 34 weeks of major roadworks in the village.

From Monday (March 31), traffic controls will hit Sutton Road as Cadent Gas resumes an ‘essential’ operation to replace ageing gas pipes lasting until November.

Chaos gripped Cookham when the company started – and soon abandoned – digging up the road in January, as drivers battled traffic pileups stretching into Maidenhead and Bourne End.

High Street retailers still reeling from the effects of Cookham Bridge’s closure and the COVID pandemic fear more disruption threatens to push them over the edge.

Devine Flowers flower shop owner Adam Garrett said the roadworks would ‘destroy the High Street’.

He said: ‘This is another nail in the coffin’.

“For us, you consider whether it’s actually worth having a shop on the High Street because it certainly doesn’t pay for itself.”

When Cookham Bridge closed for six months in 2023/24, it severed a main access point to the village – and cut off income for High Street businesses over the crucial Christmas period.

The bridge again became a frustration when issues with traffic light phasing during Cadent’s first crack at Sutton Road left drivers marshalling traffic over the Thames themselves.

Drivers battled gridlock during the initial set of works.

The company would later introduce manually operated lights at the bridge, which it says will be in place again for the coming work.

“I’m not educated enough in gas works to be able to say how they could mitigate it,” said Adam, who has run Devine Flowers for 21 years.

“All I do know is, as a result of it, it will destroy the High Street.”

He said: “My only plus side is thank God it’s happening on Monday and not the day before and destroying Mother’s Day for me as the bridge did last year.”

Little Bookshop manager Chantal Farquhar said she feared for her neighbouring shopkeepers already saddled with rising business rates.

She said: “It’s almost like they don’t want a nice High Street in somewhere like Cookham.”

Delivery delays due to standstill traffic amid January’s works and customers dodging the disruption, Chantal said, had led to a dramatic loss of business.

“People heard about that quite quickly – because it was horrible – and then that meant that people just avoided the area,” she said.

“That cut our footfall down to just pretty much how it was when the bridge closed.”

Chantal was, however, optimistic Cookham villagers would come together to support the High Street, in a repeat of unity shown during the bridge closure and pandemic.

“I’m hoping that they will do the same thing again, we’ll have a rallying cry and I’m hopeful the community will understand and support us.”

Cookham ward councillor Mandy Brar (Lib Dem) said she had met with Cadent representatives and warned against a repeat of January’s ‘chaos’.

Cadent has also held a workshop with Cookham businesses.

Roadworks kick off at the Sutton Road junction with High Street, then will gradually move towards Maidenhead over the 34 weeks.

Cllr Brar said the work ‘had to be done’ as ‘sometimes you can smell gas at places’ along the pipeline.

Highlighting the upcoming Easter period for businesses, she added: “Of course I’m worried about the impact.”

RBWM cabinet member for highways, Councillor Geoff Hill said the council was doing ‘everything we can’ to minimise disruption.

Cllr Hill (Ind, Oldfield) said: “We’re quite happy to take calls from any businesses or residents if they’re experiencing severe inconvenience and do everything we can to address it.

“[The council] does care about Cookham High Street,” Cllr Hill said. “We also have to care about gas supplies as well.”

He added: “If we don’t ensure the infrastructure is upgraded, particularly with all the properties being developed, then something like gas, water or electric won’t be – how should we say – as available as it should be. It’s a case of necessary evil, unfortunately.”

Cadent head of investment delivery Stuart Donaldson said: “Over the years, there have been multiple repairs on these gas mains, resulting in extensive traffic management measures each time.

“These frequent repairs have significantly disrupted the road, road users and the community.”

He added: “While this project will temporarily affect the area, it is designed to eliminate the need for recurrent repairs, thereby reducing traffic congestion and disruption.”