‘Health and safety gone mad’: Furious locals slam Yorkshire council over ‘bonkers’ plans to demolish 100-year-old wooden bridge over a river and replace it with a steel structure with handrails
- Bridge in Stokesley, North Yorkshire has been in place since the early 1900s
- It was built to replace stepping stones that were originally in place over river
- Hambleton District Council plannig to make way for steel bridge with handrails
- One local said: ‘Keep as is, bloody health and safety crap, what next, not allowed on stepping stones?’
A town is up in arms over plans to scrap a wooden plank which acts as a river crossing amid fears it is dangerous.
The bridge in Stokesley, North Yorkshire, has been in place since the early 1900s and the move to replace it with a steel counterpart has been branded ‘bonkers’.
A petition has been launched calling on the council to keep it and arguing that it is part of the town’s history.
The bridge was constructed more than 100 years ago to replace stepping stones.
It now faces being scrapped to make way for a steel bridge with handrails and parapets.
Resident in Stokesley, North Yorkshire are unhappy that plans are in place to remove a long plank that acts as a river crossing and has been in place there since the 1900s
But taking to social media to air their anger, one resident said: ‘Keep as is, bloody health and safety crap, what next not allowed on stepping stones?’
Another person said: ‘Keep! It’s been there for donkey years without a handrail. Health and safety gone bonkers.’
Many understand the danger of the so-called plank with some people having ‘near falls’, but have instead chalked it up to being their own fault.
Suggesting a remedial measure, one person said: ‘Should stay. Put a sign saying cross at own risk. Then it’s covered. If someone fails it’s their fault.’
Another resident added: ‘The plank needs to stay as it is. Let people use their own common sense as to whether they want to use it but it’s part of Stokesley’s heritage.’
Responding to the concerns, a spokesperson for Stokesley Council said that the purpose of the new bridge is to ‘ensure that everyone can access the riverside’.
A petition has launched calling on the council to keep it with residents happy about its risks
In a statement they added: ‘The focus for the installation of a new bridge is to ensure that everyone can access the riverside safely.
‘Providing a bridge that can be used by people with buggies and wheelchairs will enable them to visit the riverside without having to walk into the carriageway.’
Meanwhile, Hambleton District Council has said the plan to improve the bridge is part of wider scheme ‘aimed at improving safety and accessibility for pedestrians at the River Leven in Stokesley’.
Jon Berry, chief planning officer for Hambleton District Council, said: ‘The replacement of the plank bridge in Stokesley was approved by HDC’s planning committee in December as part of a wider scheme aimed at improving safety and accessibility for pedestrians at the River Leven in Stokesley.
‘Prior to making the decision, members of the committee visited the site and inspected the plank bridge.
‘They also fully considered the representations made expressing concerns about the replacement of the bridge, but concluded that the replacement would result in improved access for users, with the benefits of the replacement judged to outweigh the disadvantages.’
Plans to demolish the plank see it replaced with a steel bridge with handrails and parapets
Advertisement
