The infilling of Great Musgrave bridge in Cumbria was arguably the most grievous act of National Highways’ eight-year stewardship of the Historical Railways Estate - an opportunistic exercise in liability reduction. But in response to the outrage prompted, the state-owned roads company contrived a distorted reality whereby a structure in good condition became a threat to public safety.
Infilling kicked the volunteers of two heritage railways firmly in the teeth. Their longstanding aim to unify - boosting the local economy - involved relaying a track beneath the structure which needed perhaps £20K of modest repairs to carry vehicles of 40 tonnes. Now, according to National Highways, restoring it for rail traffic could cost £431K, on top of the £124K frittered away on infill.
The company has said it will remove the 1,600+ tonnes of aggregate and concrete when it becomes the last obstacle to the railways’ reconnection, but this has no legal standing and offers no basis for enforcement.
The infill needs to be removed now and Eden District Council’s (EDC) requirement that planning permission must be obtained to retain it beyond May 2022 offers an opportunity to force that outcome. But we must all come together to demonstrate our collective rejection of National Highways’ vandalism.
Please OBJECT to the planning application. It only takes a couple of minutes and can be done online via the Council’s planning portal.
The attached three-minute video explains the background to the infilling work and why the application should be opposed. Further guidance on how to object can be found on The HRE Group’s website…
http://thehregroup.org/structures/greatmusgrave
EDC's planning portal can be reached via this link. Click on ‘Comment’ to lodge your objection…
Thank you for your continued support. Please ask your family, friends and colleagues to join the battle against National Highways' destructive scheme.