So they’ve finally admitted the truth. Prior to its infilling, there was NO emergency at Congham bridge in Norfolk, which is currently the subject of a retrospective planning application for retention of the 1,000+ tonnes of stone and concrete in which it is now buried.
To carry out the scheme, National Highways’ exploited permitted development rights that only apply to immediate, temporary works in an emergency event or situation that threatens serious damage to human welfare or the environment. And their planning application specifically describes them as “emergency works, to safeguard the bridge”.
But they don’t allow such realities to get in the way. In a recently-published file of “background detail”, the state-owned roads company asserts that “NH has never claimed that the works were required because there was an emergency… The works undertaken sought to prevent an emergency arising.” This is, of course, the ultimate intention of ALL repair, maintenance and strengthening work.
National Highways continues to demonstrate that it cannot be trusted and will twist the facts to contrive its own distorted reality. The truth is that Congham bridge had a collection of manageable defects, presenting very little risk. Moreover, it was a rare surviving example of a structure built using engineer William Marriott’s innovative bridge construction system of modular reinforced-concrete components. As such, NH should have protected it because of its historical value.
So, if you haven’t already done so, please OBJECT to National Highways’ retrospective planning application. You can do so online via the local council’s planning portal using the following link. It only takes a couple of minutes…
Our website has a page of background information which you can use to help formulate your objection…
http://thehregroup.org/structures/congham
Thank you for your continued support.