Heathcote footbridge to be removed

A quake-damaged footbridge across Christchurch’s Heathcote River will be removed.

The Woolston footbridge, known as the Catherine St or Radley footbridge, was built in 1961 but has been closed since the quakes due to the extensive damaged it suffered.

The Christchurch City Council had looked at replacing the bridge with a new footbridge but balked at the $735,000 pricetag.

It also considered repairing the bridge but with another footbridge just a 30-second walk away they decided the $575,000 expense could not be justified.

At yesterday’s council meeting, councillors voted to simply remove the bridge at a cost of $141,800.

The decision has upset Hagley-Ferrymead councillor Yani Johanson, who believes the council has acted too hastily and should have consulted local residents before making the decision to remove the bridge.

‘‘Making decisions to remove things from communities without any community input is not the right approach,’’ said Johanson, who pushed for the council to delay making a decision on the bridge for a month so that they could consult local residents.

‘‘I can’t see the harm in talking to local people,’’ he said.

But Cr Paul Lonsdale, who also represents the Hagley-Ferrymead ward, said the council should just get on with it.

‘‘We have a bridge 35 seconds away and I’m not willing to spend over $500,000 to fix it,’’ Lonsdale said.

‘‘I’m also not willing to spend thousands of dollars on a consultation.

‘‘The community would rather see the money put into something else that has more value,’’ Lonsdale said.