Campaigners battling to save a North Shields footbridge from destruction have issued a final plea for it to be protected.
North Tyneside Council has been planning for years to tear down the Borough Road bridge, which has been a prominent feature of the town’s skyline for more than 80 years. The local authority granted planning permission to demolish the historic crossing in 2019, but cannot proceed until the Government also agrees to extinguish the public right of way across it.
With the Planning Inspectorate due to rule on the bridge’s future in the coming months, locals bidding to protect the high-level path have renewed their calls for its preservation. Vicki Gilbert, of the North Tyneside Public Transport Users Group, said the Borough Road bridge is a “part of the cultural heritage of this area” and a pleasant walking route for locals who want to avoid the traffic below, particularly children, parents with prams and the disabled.
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She added: "The bridge is important for lots of reasons. It is a piece of heritage in the conservation area of North Shields, it is a route that is used by people who don't want to go down to the lower level, it is a link between communities. There have been three bridges there over the course of 200 years.
"If it is demolished it will mean a lot of extra walking for people and we will lose something that allows us to get away from the traffic and air pollution. I understand the problems that the council has in terms of financial difficulties, of course, but we are fighting for community use of this bridge for years to come.
"It is a part of the cultural heritage of this area, an area that has been hard done by over the years and is one of the most socially deprived in North Tyneside."
The council has argued that the bridge is in a poor state and nearing the end of its lifespan, with a new parallel crossing having been installed on Borough Road to replace it in summer 2019. According to the local authority, a survey carried out in November 2018 found that 91 people crossed the bridge in a single day compared to 1,163 at ground level on Borough Road.
Mark Longstaff, North Tyneside Council’s director of commissioning and asset management, said: “We know from surveys carried out that the number of people using the bridge has declined hugely over recent years and more people cross at ground level, which is why we installed a parallel crossing on Borough Road itself in 2019. We're currently awaiting a decision from the Government Planning Inspectorate."
The steel footbridge was built in 1936 as a replacement for a previous iron crossing dating back to the 1850s. The council has estimated that it would cost roughly £360,000 to restore it to a good condition, building a new one would cost around £1m, and the demolition just £63,000.
