The village is lobbying the Environment Agency to address the closed Hithermoor Lake Footbridges, that were recently closed by the Agency.
The Environment Agency has closed two footbridges at Hithermoor Lake. This happened with no advanced notice, and no explanation either at the bridges or to any person. This is not acceptable to local residents who use the path for work, exercise and leisure on a daily basis.
The lack of information about next steps from the Environment Agency is also unacceptable. The village deserves to know when the footbridges will be reopened.
Following action from local resident Claire Mack the agency has written to Lincoln Jopp MP to explain the reasons for the closure of the bridges: “The bridges are close to the end of their design life and there has been significant deterioration in the last few years. Based on the advice of the engineer and in the interest of public safety, we decided to temporarily close the bridges to the public, so that we can further investigate and carry out repairs to the bridges. This will extend the design life of the bridges.”
We fully recognise the importance of the need to close unsafe bridges and have them repaired. However, residents need to be treated with respect and be informed, and be reassured the bridges are going to be promptly repaired.
We are disappointed that the Agency is refusing to indicate when the repairs will be done. We are working with Claire Mack to lobby the Agency to prioritise the work and focus on repairing and re-opening the village sooner rather than later.
We will continue to lobby the Agency and work with Claire Mack to ensure Lincoln Jopp MP is giving this issue his full attention.