Disability campaigners have criticised Bristol City Council for pressing on with long-awaited repairs to a footbridge even though the work will make it inaccessible to wheelchairs and children's buggies. Cabinet members agreed to spend £1million to fix Kingsweston Iron Bridge on Tuesday, June 6, more than seven-and-a-half years after it was struck by a lorry and had to be shut to pedestrians because it was unsafe.
The funding decision is the culmination of a long saga and was welcomed by Labour and Conservative ward councillors. They have been calling for the reopening of the bridge over Kingsweston Lane, which links Blaise Castle Estate to Kingsweston Fields. The work requires the Grade II-listed structure, built around 1800, to be raised by a metre to prevent another truck hitting it.
But the idea of a ramp for people with mobility problems and parents with prams and pushchairs was rejected as unacceptable by government body Historic England, which protects old buildings and features, because it would have to be 30 metres long. A city council planning committee granted permission in December for the repairs to go ahead without a ramp.
Read more: Work to repair Kingsweston Iron Bridge won’t start until almost a decade after it closed
David Redgewell, representing Bristol Disability Equalities Forum, told Tuesday’s council cabinet meeting that this went against clear guidance from the Department for Transport and ministers in Whitehall that all infrastructure like this must be fully accessible. He said: “We are concerned.
“We haven't even been offered an alternative crossing across the road, so there isn’t an alternative route being provided for mobility impairments. If we can’t use the bridge, we should at least be able to cross the road safely but that has not been offered either.”
He said he understood that the work would take up to two years from now and that urgent conversations must now take place with government departments and Historic England to find a suitable solution for disabled people. “I don’t think it’s unreasonable,” Mr Redgewell said.
“Worcester Council had a rail bridge in a similar situation where Historic England kept saying no and eventually they came around and said ‘yes, we will find a solution’. So all we’re really asking is that we have two years to look for solutions.”
Bristol’s Labour mayor Marvin Rees said the discussions would continue. “Just because this is progress, it doesn’t mean the end of the conversation – we will still be talking,” he told Mr Redgewell.
“We are on the same side, we want a city that’s fit for purpose and accessible. The statements today highlight why this has been a challenge, but given this is not a strategically significant route, even though it is loved by people in the area, we believe we’ve found the best possible outcome given the very challenging circumstances.”
He said the council had wanted to include a ramp but this was refused. “Unfortunately the ramp was not acceptable to Historic England and was also prohibitively expensive, and that led to a period of time when the project was held up,” Mr Rees said.
“The choice we ended up facing was to continue in that hold-up with no bridge or to compromise and get a bridge. The compromise does mean that there is no ramp and we have to acknowledge that there is a consequence for that, but it was the only way we could get this project completed.”
He said work could now start to dismantle the bridge, repair it off-site, reinstate it and install stone steps at both ends. Cabinet member for transport and ward councillor Cllr Don Alexander (Labour, Avonmouth & Lawrence Weston) told the meeting: “This bridge is much loved.
“It has been struck many times over the years, this goes back decades, and so it’s really important that this solution we have found is a long-term one. Obviously I regret the loss of accessibility which could have been solved with ramps but the ramps were considered to be unacceptable by heritage people – I didn’t agree with that.”
A report to cabinet said it cost the council £15,000 a year to maintain the unrepaired bridge with scaffolding. In a statement to the meeting, Cllrs John Geater and James Scott (Conservative, Avonmouth & Lawrence Weston) said they were relieved the long-delayed project had overcome its final hurdle.
They said: “The acceptance by Historic England of the need for compromise by raising the crossing – even though this design may impact disproportionately (in terms of accessibility) on those with mobility issues – is a pragmatic decision.” Money for the repairs was included in the mayor’s 2022/23 budget after he agreed to a Conservative amendment, while Bristol North West Labour MP Darren Jones had also called for the bridge to be mended.
Work is expected to start late this year and finish by December 2024.
Read next:
£1-million plan to finally fix Kingsweston Iron Bridge shut since 2015
Bristol mayor's U-turn on free parking and Kingsweston Iron Bridge repairs in new budget
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