Plans for maintenance work on the Guildhall Forecourt in Sandwich have finally been announced.

Councillors discussed the need to replace some but not all of the cobbles at the Toll Bridge Fund meeting on Monday.

A petition against laying tarmac gained nearly 200 signatures, and was submitted to the council at the end of last year.

Cllr Jeff Sneller said: “What we have at the moment is dreadful. It’s unsightly and dangerous.”

Cllr Sneller and Cllr Joe Trussler have come up with a proposal to make the cobbles safer as they have become loose.

The councillors said they aimed to resurface a central concourse throughout the forecourt from the walkway to the bus stop.

It would be 22 feet wide and would cover the area where pedestrians walk on market days.

Cllr Trussler said: “There’s only a certain amount of materials you can use if you’re doing away with the cobble stones.”

He suggested paving slabs or brickwork.

Sandwich Society chairman John Hennessy set up the petition last year.

He said: “This is much more preferable than a sea of black tarmac. Everybody realises something needs to be done but what most people don’t want is a school playground full of asphalt.

“What they did was to say the original proposal was just some thoughts after they found that everyone in the town had gone berserk.”

Cllrs Sneller and Trussler said this way would be more cost-effective and would take just two weeks to complete.

Vehicles would be able to access the area, and the electricity would be re-wired through posts stuck into the ground.

The pair will now present samples of material to the council, which will then decide whether to submit a planning application to Dover District Council.