Councillors support growing campaign to save Victorian bridge
CAMPAIGNERS fighting to save the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway's Bridge 234 in Bourne from being knocked down as part of a new housing scheme have won near-unanimous backing from district councillors.
At their meeting in Grantham on September 16, members of South Kesteven District Council's planning committee voted 8-1 against approving developer Bellway Homes' application for a ‘pocket park' and children's play area on the site of the bridge adjacent to the Lincolnshire town's Elsea Park housing estate, on the grounds that it did not go far enough to protect its heritage – in the form of the bridge.
As previously reported, Bellway wants to build 373 homes on land surrounding the late Victorian overbridge, and has said that while it wants to demolish it, it plans to create a memorial to the distinctive three-arch structure by using salvaged bricks to create part of the play area, as well as erecting a memorial sign.
Campaigners for the bridge led by Bourne History Group, who are now backed by a growing number of townsfolk as well as the district councillors, say that is not good enough for what is the last surviving and publicly visible complete railwaybuilt structure from Bourne's days as a four-way junction. They point out that saving the bridge would not prevent Bellway from building any of the planned homes, but it would be a major heritage asset to the new estate and the town as a whole.
In recent weeks, signs calling for Bourne Bridge 234 to be saved have been displayed in shops throughout the town. Locals have now formed a charitable trust to repair, conserve and maintain the bridge at no cost to council taxpayers or the Elsea Park Residents' Association, and explore other options for its future. A petition to save the bridge has been signed by nearly 1400 people.
Site clearance
At the meeting, Coun Rosemary Kaberry-Brown said the council should do everything possible to stop the demolition going through. “We should be seen to be standing up,”she said.
Coun Ian Selby said: “The Local Plan calls for the protection of the historic environment. The developer is missing a golden opportunity to give something back to the community.”
Coun Phil Dilks added: “I just think the bridge is, and could be, quite an attraction if looked after properly.”
Councillors also voted to attempt to hold fresh talks with Bellway over the future of the bridge.
However, in the same week, developers cleared several acres of vegetation and 20-year-old saplings from adjacent land in advance of the next stage of building work; the bridge site remained fenced off and untouched.
Meanwhile, after residents and councillors won their battle to save the historic Wycombe Railway bridge in Horspath, Oxfordshire, which they feared was at risk of demolition by Highways England, as reported in issue 278, repair work is now set to start on October 11.
The renovation is set to take until December 17. It will ensure the bridge's continued use for locals for many years to come while preserving an important piece of British heritage, said a statement from Government road agency Highways England's (now National Highways) Historical Railways Estate.
The infilling or removal of redundant railway bridges by Highways England (HE) has come under growing criticism in recent months. As reported last issue, Prime Minster Boris Johnson ordered a halt to HE's plans to fill in 69 Victorian bridges with concrete and demolish another nine over the next five years. However, Bridge 234 is not part of the HE portfolio; it is privately owned.
➜ The petition to save Bridge 234 cam be signed at https://you.38degrees.org. uk/petitions/preserve-our-heritagebridge-234
More details about the campaign can be found at www.facebook.com/ BourneHistory