Some consultees have just recently received copies of an official report underwritten by Ringway Jacobs Essex County Council, dated simply ‘February’, in support of their proposal to replace Boxted Bridge. It is entitled: 'Consequences of not replacing Boxted Bridge'. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tEFRuaQoLfZCJjdecQlag6_J93eACapi/view?usp=sharing We are considering the best way to respond and will revert when we understand the process for doing so.
It seems unbalanced to suggest, as the somewhat alarming title does, that ‘replacing Boxted Bridge’ is the only alternative to doing nothing (as for the last thirty years)! Only in that worst case, of no repair or refurbishment, would the ‘consequences’ envisaged follow; and then only if a 3T weight limit, recommended in 1992 but disregarded until now due to the supposed ‘hidden strengths’ of the bridge-deck, were finally imposed.
In actual fact the report is quite helpful in acknowledging the other obvious alternatives. Furthermore, the wider traffic ‘consequences’, on which the report focuses, would be the same for those alternatives, neither better nor worse than for the full replacement which it actively promotes. No new information is provided about this, apart from a revised photo-montage of the elevation. Non-traffic consequences are not discussed. The design details remain sketchy.
Another supplementary document recently published is an update from Place Services, also under the umbrella of ECC, on Landscape, Arboriculture, Ecology and Historic Buildings considerations. This confirms the lack of detail and recommends a ‘holding objection’ until a proper visual assessment is possible. No objection is raised with regard to arboriculture and ecology. On the other hand, the historic buildings section notes that ‘there does not appear to be any discussion on the retention and reuse of any elements of the bridge’, and raises an objection.
Babergh DC recently wrote to consultees and all those who have written to object to the planning application to inform us that there is to now to be a re consultation period to allow people to comment on the report if they wish by the deadline of March 21st however even this information is now outdated. We contacted Essex CC for further clarification on this and they confirmed on 4th March that Essex Highways intend to provide yet further information which they are still waiting for as well as revised details and that the application is still not in its final form. Essex CC has not had the courtesy to publicly inform anyone of all this it was Suffolk CC who had the courtesy to send letters out. This is totally unacceptable. The consultation for Boxted bridge has been utterly flawed from the start and the do called 'feasibility stage' we are now in is a complete disgrace.
We continue to fight to save Boxted bridge!
SOB