Funding vote this week for new bridge

Councillors are expected to decide whether to spend £2.74 million to replace Cloddach Bridge this week.

The span on the Elgin to Birnie road was closed to vehicles two years ago.

It was considered too expensive to repair as it is not considered a priority for the local authority.

However, a £1.5m funding pledge from the UK Government opened up debate on whether the bridge could be replaced.

In June councillors voted 14 to 10 in favour of spending £30,000 on a prefeasibility study to see if progressing a business case would be worthwhile.

It was also decided a £1.5m underspend on bridge repairs could be used to fund the project.

That overturned a decision taken a few months earlier not to go ahead with preliminary investigations.

And in October members voted 14 to 12 to get a full business case prepared for replacing the bridge.

Heldon Community Council contributed £120,000 towards funding that, with a further £60,000 coming from Moray Council. The total cost of a new bridge is just under £4.24m.

While there is a positive case for replacing the crossing, the UK Government still has to approve it before the money is released.

And the deadline for submitting that is April 16.

But even with that funding and the bridge repair budget underspend, the council still needs to find £1.24m.

And that comes in a financial climate where the local authority has to make £13m savings over the next two years.

On top of that, repairs to Bishopmill Bridge in Elgin, on the main road to Lossiemouth, will be delayed if the Cloddach replacement goes ahead.

In her report before councillors today consultancy manager Debbie Halliday said: “There is a risk that should it make funding available to support this project... the council is seen as departing from its established bridge maintenance prioritisation policy.”

She added while the offer of government money could make replacing Cloddach Bridge an “exceptional” case, there were “clear financial impacts” in committing funding to it.

Although shut to cars and vans it can be used by pedestrians and cyclists.

DAMAGED: Only pedestrians and cyclists can use the bridge. Picture by Jason Hedges.