This is the culture we're up against.
As you may have seen in the media, Highways England has completed the infilling of a fabulous masonry bridge near Kirkby Stephen in Cumbria which is needed for a planned link between two heritage railways.
Eden District Council gave consent for this work without planning permission; as a result, there was no consultation with interested parties and no scrutiny of the economic, environmental, transport and heritage impacts.
The work cost £124K. Highways England's own technical reports record the bridge as being in Fair condition, presenting "No significant [public safety] risk". The inspector who last checked it out recommended £5K of repointing. This would have restored its capacity to 40 tonnes.
Highways England has carried out an act of vandalism and, in the face of considerable criticism, it has perpetuated deceit about the structure's condition and the threat it posed.
They clearly cannot be trusted with our great railway heritage.
We cannot afford another loss of this significance. Please encourage your family, friends and colleagues to sign this petition and lobby their MPs.
Unaccountable bureaucrats - who don't care about the impact of their actions on good people trying to do positive things for their communities - must not be allowed to destroy opportunities to build a better future.