Imagine cafes and restaurants to suit most tastes and a vibrant night life.

But a shortage of natural gas threatens to bring those dreams off the boil prematurely.

Imagine property developer Carlo Rossi’s shock when he was told the gas lines were too small to fuel his restaurant plans in a four-star hotel.

Few could have foreseen this drama either.

For a start, Maitland City Council made sure that the various utility ­companies carried out the necessary upgrades before the new pavers went down. New gas lines were among those works. 

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They’re simply not adequate to meet high-demand applications.

Mercury sources are adamant that gas distribution company Jemena wouldn’t even have carried out the basic upgrade without council’s insistence.

While the company has since responded that it would pull out all stops to make amends it is nonetheless another chapter of frustration in The Levee.

Jemena had the chance to install the high-pressure infrastructure needed when the trenches were open.

Caution is warranted in business but it would seem that Jemena has done itself an injustice here. 

It’s a false economy to not plan ahead and carry out work on the spot. 

Delays only mean increased costs down the track. The only option now might be to run higher capacity lines up to The Levee via side streets like Bourke and Bulwer.

That’s all well and good but it brings more disruption to the precinct which can bear little more.

Think more concrete saws, more traffic control and more safety barriers.

If there is any consolation to traders, stage one of The Levee project can’t be any more than six weeks off completion.