A Cumbria County Council Spokesperson said
“We have been working with the community for some time regarding the potential redevelopment of Front Street and we remain committed to working with the community to find a long term solution that protects the historic nature of Alston Town Centre.
These plans are already being developed following community feedback and we will ensure that there are even more opportunities for the community to get involved as any potential future scheme is developed.
Some work has already been done to develop the costs of a potential scheme but a scheme like this will not be cheap and similar schemes have cost between £1-2 million pounds. As such the development of any scheme, that meets the needs of Alston, will take time. It is a significant undertaking and agreeing detailed plans with residents and businesses, and then securing the funding needed, will not happen quickly.
Working closely with the community work is already underway to look at possible design options, and this work will continue. Once finalised with the community these plans will be key to helping us secure the funding needed to deliver a scheme that reflects the historic nature of Alston.
The work that we have undertaken recently on the front street was essential maintenance. We appreciate that the extent of these works, and the removal of sections of the cobbles have caused some significant local concern and for that we apologise as we recognise that we could have communicated the extent of this work much more effectively with the local community.
We are currently storing the cobbles so that we can reinstate them back into town centre at a time when we have a final scheme agreed and have secure the funding needed to pay for it.”