St George's Square revamp boss: Granite is pinker than we thought

Nov 25 2009 By Barry Gibson

THE man in charge of the controversial revamp of St George’s Square admitted yesterday that the Chinese granite was pinker than he expected.

And John Griffiths told councillors that Yorkstone couldn’t be used in the £4m revamp because it would end up stained by leaking old taxis.

Kirklees Council’s head of economic development service was also challenged about the spiralling costs of the redevelopment and asked why the completed square was different from the original design.

The new-look St George’s Square – complete with waterfall and fountains – was officially unveiled last month, a year behind schedule.

The use of pink Chinese granite in parts of the square was heavily criticised by some Huddersfield councillors.

Mr Griffiths was questioned about the revamp yesterday by the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Panel for Regeneration.

He told councillors: "Certainly when the stone was laid, it was pinker than we expected, and pinker than the samples. I think the materials will blend in over time, but when they were first laid, there was a bigger contrast than anticipated."

Mr Griffiths defended the use of pink Chinese granite for the roads in St George’s Square. He said: "There was a lot of discussion about whether to use Yorkstone or granite. A lot of taxis are quite old and oil drips from them. Oil stains on Yorkstone are a problem, the only way to get rid of it is to lay new stone.

"The granite should last considerably longer than the old setts did."

Mr Griffiths added that St George’s Square had been in a bad state before the revamp.

He said: "The lower part of the square was in very poor condition. It never actually had high-quality materials. A lot of the stone setts had started to work themselves loose."