Please help us stop Telford and Wrekin Council from ripping up Ironbridge's famous stone pavements, and replacing it with block paving.

Ironbridge Gorge is a World Heritage Site located in Shropshire, United Kingdom.

The existing stone paving in Ironbridge is reclaimed carboniferous sandstone, and was laid around 40 years ago. It is an intrinsic constituent of the ‘Ironbridge colour palette’, and part of what makes Ironbridge such a special place. The stone paving was carefully chosen prior to Ironbridge being designated a World Heritage Site. As can be seen in the pictures, the paving closely matches the stonework used in the construction of the historic Iron Bridge.

Amazingly, Telford and Wrekin Council are planning on ripping up Ironbridge’s stone paving, selling it to the highest bidder, and replacing it with block paving. This is due to happen in the next few weeks, so time is of the essence. 

The Council are gaining the funding for the new block paving from the Government’s Sustainable Transport Fund. This is deeply ironic, given that removing the existing stone, transporting it away from Ironbridge, mining clay, manufacturing new block paving, and transporting this paving to Ironbridge can hardly be described as ‘sustainable’.

There is no doubt that the existing pavement needs repairing, but an independent report, commissioned by the Council, says that 75% of the existing paving can simply be reset, on a more substantial sub-base, whilst the remaining 25% could be replaced with similar reclaimed stone.

In order to help justify their decision, the Council performed a ‘consultation’ exercise. However, this ‘consultation’ simply offered the public two options of remarkably similar block paving, despite a request from the Local Councillor to include the option of repairing the existing stone.

In a recent poll, on an Ironbridge residents social media group, over 80% of respondents favoured repairing the existing stone pavements rather than replacing them with the proposed block work.

Download a PDF, with more info and pictures, by clicking this link