WARRINGTON’S rusting, eyesore swing bridges are to be painted – at last.
After months of pressure from local councillors and residents, Manchester Ship Canal owners Peel have agreed to paint the three bridges at Warrinton.
The news was welcomed today by local Liberal Democrats who in April last year organised a 1,700-name petition calling on the company to carry out the work.
Leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the borough council Bob Barr said: “At the March council meeting we put forward a motion asking for a letter to be sent and this was approved by all councillors.
“The motion pointed out that Warrington had strong ambitions to project itself nationally and internationally, but the dilapidated state of the three bridges let the town down badly. The bridges were an eyesore and detracted from our bid to become the City of Culture.
“In April last year we handed over a petition with over 1,700 signatures calling on Peel to repaint the swing bridges and live up to the claim in its Social Responsibility Statement of having a ‘duty of care to the population as a whole’.
“Despite several reminders we had absolutely no response from them. This shows little respect for both residents and visitors.
“Peel is a very substantial land owner in the town, in addition to their ownership of the Ship Canal. We very much hope that this marks the beginning of a new era in the relationship between Peel and the people of Warrington. There are substantial shared interests between the company and the town.
“However, these will only work to mutual benefit if the company considers its responsibilities to the town as much as its obligations to its shareholders.”
As a result of the motion carried at the March council meeting, strongly worded latter were sent by the council to Peel – and has now agreed to paint the Knutsford Road, London Road and Chester Road swing bridges.
While Peel have confirmed work will soon start on the Warburton Toll Bridge, followed by a rolling programme of works, they have not yet specified when work will start on the Warrington swing bridges.
The Stockton Heath Swing Bridge
5 Comments
hopefully all those who have campaigned for this work to be carried out wont complain when road closures (partial or whole) take place due to workmen on the bridge and when scaffolding has to be erected/dismantled.
Great news and about time too! Well done to all involved, people power gets a result again 😀 Credit to the council too for finally being stern with Peels (ha ha ‘stern’ no pun intended) 😀
I’m sure some people will probably complain about any possible traffic disruption in the areas GRAPLAD, I say ‘possible’ as maybe they will do it all at less busy times of the day so there wont be much impact to motorists…we will have to wait and see. I live between two of the bridges and I’m more that happy to set off earlier on my travels or to take a bit longer getting home so that the swing bridges can FINALLY be painted. They are a bloody mess !
Of course if Peels hadn’t been so awkward and seemingly uninterested in the bridges and left them so long the job would probably take a fraction of the time and cost it will probably take now to remove all the rotting and flaking paint and rust. Here’s hoping once they are painted Peels will them ensure they stay that way with regular maintenance and spot repairs as needed.
I notice all credit is to the local councillors and residents but no credit to the local MP yet he led us to believe he was constantly lobbying Peel Holdings to get the bridges painted. Was this infant a lie or are Warrington Worldwide failing to give him credit?
Warrington worldwide should apologise to David Mowatt
No idea what he did or didn’t do REM or what clout he really had but personally I think it’s more to do with the public shaming Peels into action and the bad press they kept getting…oh and of course they need public on side for their Atlantic Gateway (or whatever it’s called) and they also need reliable and well maintained swing bridges or none of their cargo ships will get through. Social media pages have been full of photos and rants about the state of the bridges for a few years now and Peels have been given a right slating. Saying that people have been blaming the council too. I see it as more like ‘team work’ from many across all parties and public outrage and support in various ways….and it’s good that something is finally being done 😀